Unused Fire Escape
by Becca Lavender
Summary: Prequel to "A New Life."  AU of Season 1, chronicling Dan's story arc had Vanessa not returned in 1.06.  Ships:  D/S, B/N, D/B, S/N
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Prequel to "A New Life," though you don't have to read that to understand this. I wrote this first, thinking I wanted to tell the story of Dan's life without Vanessa based on Dan's comment to Vanessa in the finale about him having a better life before she returned. I wanted to write an AU series based on that premise, wrote this, and then the muse took me in a different direction and I wrote "A New Life." _

_I have the arc pretty well planned out to get Dan to where he is during "A New Life." If there's interest in me continuing this AU, I'll probably see it through. So, I am shamelessly begging for literary validation via reviews. If you like and want me to continue this AU, please review! _

When Dan hung up the phone, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. Even though he never thought he'd attend something as pretentious as a masked ball, his excitement was palpable. Serena van der Woodson had invited him to another event in her world following the debacle at the Bass brunch. While Dan still felt wildly uncomfortable in the presence of the majority of his classmates, he also recognized a second chance when he saw one. If this thing with Serena was going to work out, she was going to have to take him out in public on occasion. Dan figured an event where the entire premise involved him hiding his identity was a good opportunity to get his feet wet.

Just as Dan had picked up his phone to tell Jenny to pick him up the tux she had mentioned earlier, his phone rang. The caller ID revealed an unfamiliar number. Dan shrugged and answered with a questioning, "Hello?"

"Cabbage Patch," Blair Waldorf said tersely. While he and Blair had reached something of an understanding at her mother's photo shoot, she still made him uneasy. He also had no clue why she would be calling him.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Waldorf?" Dan responded, an edge in his voice.

"Upon my urging, Serena invited you to the masked ball tonight. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't make me regret that decision."

Dan couldn't decide whether to focus on the complimentary or insulting part of that statement. Still feeling good about the invitation from Serena, he decided to focus on the positive. "Why would you urge Serena to take me to the ball? You don't think I can even dress myself properly."

"Despite the fact that you still wear horrible shoes and appear to have your hair buzz cut at Fantastic Sam's, Serena seems to like you. I figured you would only be minimally embarrassing with your face covered for the bulk of the night," Blair answered, then continued, "As far as your inability to dress yourself, that brings me to the original point of this call."

"Which was?" Dan asked, getting impatient, feeling that everything with Blair seemed to be two steps forward, three steps back.

"I ordered you a tux and mask for tonight. I have already texted your sister to pick it up as part of her list. I also wanted to make sure you understand that Serena is on call as my handmaiden for tonight, and no matter how much your hipster instincts may be pushing you to leave early, Serena must remain until she has performed her duties, " Blair informed him.

"Your handmaiden? Seriously?" Dan scoffed.

"I have something special planned for Nate tonight which requires handmaidens, and Serena has the most important task of the evening. I am approving of your presence tonight based on the condition that you understand I will also be requiring Serena's services tonight," Blair told him haughtily.

Dan couldn't decide whether to question Blair's sanity in regard to involving Serena in her surprise for Nate or to admire her audacity in facing Nate and Serena's past indiscretion head on. He decided to remain silent on the subject, and instead try and use this opportunity to suit his own interests.

"Say no more about your 'something special' for Nate. I will follow your terms under one condition," Dan said.

"What makes you think you have any negotiating power, Humphrey?" Blair asked.

"Because I can tell that this evening going well is important to you."

"Fine. What is your condition?"

"My sister gets an invitation to the ball. She's been running around doing your bidding all day, all in hopes of getting to go tonight. I don't want to see her disappointed," Dan said firmly. While Dan didn't despise Blair like he did initially, he hated to see his sister continually jumping through hoops for limited rewards.

"Freshmen are not generally permitted to attend, but I will make an exception if your sister adequately completes her list," Blair said, clearly not willing to completely relent to him. Dan smiled, knowing he had won this round.

"All I ask is that you play fair. Don't rescind her invitation based on a technicality," Dan told her.

"I would never dream of it, Humphrey. I'm just happy you're finally playing the game. See you tonight, hopefully only before the masks come off," Blair said before hanging up, not allowing Dan a chance to respond.

Dan still wasn't completely on board with his sister's eagerness to cater to Blair's whims, but any reservations he had went out the window when Jenny entered the loft as excited as he'd ever seen her.

"Guess who's going to the masked ball tonight? I was worried when I first got to Blair's and she told me that freshmen don't get to go. Then she told me I had done such a great job today that she was going to make an exception for me," Jenny told him excitedly.

"I'm glad Blair came through for you, Jen," Dan said sincerely.

"Yeah, though I had thought one of the dresses that I picked up was intended for me, but I was wrong. I have no idea what I'm going to wear," Jenny said, beginning to look panicked.

Wanting his sister to return to her previous good mood, not to mention not wanting to waste the only favor he was probably ever going to get from Blair Waldorf, Dan decided to continue in his fairy godmother role and picked up his phone.

"Hey, Serena," Dan said when she picked up. "I have a favor to ask you." Dan could see Jenny perking back up, and he grinned at his sister, glad to be the one making her happy. He still had reservations about these lavish parties, but if he was going to the masked ball to please Serena and Blair, far be it from him to stand in his sister's way.

Later, Dan and Jenny arrived at the Palace, the former with his tuxedo slung over his shoulder. Jenny could barely contain her excitement at getting to peruse Serena van der Woodson's closet. In the lobby, Dan spotted a familiar figure who had just entered through a different set of doors.

"Nate? It's like deja vu all over again," Dan quipped, cautiously approaching the other boy.

"Huh?" Nate looked distracted and a bit confused. He then shook himself out of it a bit, "Hey, Dan. I was just leaving Chuck's. You here to see Serena?"

Dan didn't know Nate very well, but he could tell that he wasn't quite himself. He didn't have the same easy smile he usually carried, and he completely failed to recognize Jenny's presence. Dan knew that Nate's good breeding would make introducing himself to Jenny an automatic response, but instead Nate looked like he couldn't wait to flee the hotel lobby.

"Hey, Jen, why don't you run upstairs to start looking for a dress. I'll be right behind you," Dan told his sister. Jenny nodded at her brother and smiled at Nate before heading off.

Nate sighed once Jenny left. "Look, I really was here to see Chuck. I'm not trying to cause you any problems with Serena," Nate said, sounding irritated. Dan had initially taken Nate's statement about seeing Chuck at face value, but now he felt that the boy doth protest too much.

"I never said you were here to see Serena. Honestly, if you were here to see Serena you should be more worried about what Blair would say than what I think," Dan said, feeling strangely protective of Blair.

Nate sighed again, running his hands through his hair. It mussed his bangs, making him look more boyish and flustered. "No offense, Dan, but I don't need this right now. I've had a really crappy day and I still need to get ready for tonight."

Dan took a breath, realizing the conversation had gotten away from him. "Look, man, I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything. It looked like you were upset, and I just wanted to ask if you were okay. I know we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but if you needed to talk to someone..."

Nate looked at Dan for a moment, clearly contemplating how much he wanted to divulge. After a few silent moments, it appeared that Nate couldn't hold in whatever was bugging him any longer. "Have you ever found out something about your parents that worried you?"

"In what way?" Dan asked, carefully keeping his tone neutral.

"Like, you think that they're in trouble, but you don't know what to do?"

Dan thought about his own parents' current marital problems, and couldn't help but relate to what Nate was saying. "Yeah, it's hard when your parents' problems come into the open and you don't know how to deal with it. It seems like everyone then just goes more silent and tries harder to act like everything's okay," Dan said.

Nate became more relaxed, seeing that Dan did indeed understand where Nate was coming from on some level. "So what do you do?" Nate asked with genuine curiosity.

"I want to tell them to just tell me the truth, but there's a part of me that keeps holding back. If I were braver, I would force the issue more," Dan said honestly, "But I'm not that brave. I think I'm afraid of what happens then."

Nate nodded. "Yeah, it's hard. Sometimes I feel like I'm responsible for holding the family together," Nate said, looking surprised at his own open admission.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Dan said, then looked at the clock. At that moment, Dan's phone rang. Dan answered, putting up one finger to indicate to Nate he'd be just a moment. "Hey Serena," Dan said in greeting. Nate began to look uncomfortable, and just waved at Dan and signaled that he had to go. Dan waved back, then started to walk towards the elevators while he continued to speak with Serena on the phone.

Dan, Serena and Jenny arrived at the ball together. The second she stepped foot in the door, Jenny took off in a cloud of red silk.

"Even though I scored an invited from Serena van der Woodson, apparently I'm still too uncool to be seen with Jenny Humphrey, even being incognito," Dan said laughingly.

Serena wrapped her arm in his fondly. "Aw, it's never cool to be out with your big brother. Don't take it personally. However, I am really happy to be here with you," Serena told him warmly.

Dan smiled down at her. "Believe it or not, I am actually really happy to be at this thing with you too."

"Do you want to dance?" Serena asked.

"Can we just grab drinks and get acclimated for a moment first? I think I'm having a bit of sensory overload," Dan said, taking in the lavish surroundings.

After getting their drinks, Dan and Serena stood in a comfortable silence, watching the partygoers. After a few moments, Dan broke the silence.

"So, what is this whole deal with Blair tonight? She called me to make sure I didn't screw things up for her tonight," Dan said, his voice raised over the noise in the room.

"Blair called you?" Serena asked, looking surprised.

Dan nodded in the affirmative. "It sounded like it was a big deal."

"It is. Blair's set up a scavenger hunt with her 'handmaidens' each giving Nate a clue. If he finds Blair by midnight, he gets his prize," Serena explained.

"I'm assuming the prize is what I think it is," Dan said. Serena nodded in response.

"I don't get it. Why is tonight such a big deal? It's not like Nate and Blair have never..." Dan trailed off once he saw the look on Serena's face, then his own face took on a look of recognition.

"Oh. So that's why..." Dan trailed off again, deciding that there was no good end to that sentence. Dan didn't know what to say. Serena just looked down at the ground, ashamed.

Dan took a breath and reminded himself that Serena was trying to move forward, and obviously so was Blair. None of this had any bearing on his own relationship with Serena.

"Do you want to dance?" Dan asked. Serena smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the dance floor.

They danced for awhile, and Dan just lets himself relax and have fun with Serena. He didn't know if it's the anonymity the mask affords him or simply being in Serena's company, but he hadn't felt this at ease in a long time.

"I'm having a really nice time tonight. Thank you for inviting me," he said into Serena's ear.

Serena beamed at him. "You're welcome. I'm really glad you came."

A moment later, Serena pulled away apologetically. "I need to go be ready for Nate. He should be ready for his final clue soon."

Dan nodded in understanding. "I'm going to run grab us drinks, then I'll come join you."

"You don't have to do this, you know," Serena said. "I know this whole scavenger hunt of Blair's is pretty over the top. It won't hurt my feelings if you want to just go home."

Dan shook his head and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips. "There's nowhere I'd rather be. Besides, your friends are growing on me."

On his way to find drinks, Dan spotted Blair looking very alone. He walked over tentatively, not quite sure whether his company would be welcome or not.

"Serena's in position for the grand finale," Dan said as he approached.

"She'd better be. Nate's running out of time," Blair said anxiously.

Dan shook his head. "Why does there have to be a deadline? Can't you just let Nate come to you at his own pace?"

Blair glared at him. "Nate needs to show he's willing to work for it."

Dan shrugged. "Just take it easy on the guy. I talked to Nate earlier today, and I don't know everything, but I know he's going through something with his parents."

"Since when are you two friends?"

Dan chose to ignore the question, wanting to avoid any mention of Nate being at the Palace. It was plausible that Nate was seeing Chuck, but Dan had his doubts and he had a feeling Blair might share those same doubts.

"You don't have to take my advice. I'm just trying to help," Dan told her.

"Why? Trying to keep Nate out of the picture with Serena?"

"Is that what this is all about tonight?" Dan volleyed back.

Blair's glare got even narrower. "Just go find your date and my boyfriend," Blair said dismissively.

"Fine. Goodnight, Blair. I hope things go as you hope tonight."

Blair didn't say goodnight, merely smiled and waved at him sarcastically before he turned around to leave.

Dan found Serena just as Nate took off in the other direction. Serena looked tense as Dan approached with their drinks.

"Nate heading in the right direction?" Dan asked, trying to figure out the source of Serena's discomfort.

"Yeah, I think so," Serena said distractedly. Dan handed Serena her drink, then softly cupped her cheek with his free hand.

"What's wrong? Is it Nate?" Dan asked gently, not wanting to seem jealous.

"Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with him. He said it was something about his dad. I just told him what Blair is wearing and told him to go find her," Serena said. "Blair really needs this to happen tonight."

Dan suspected that Serena also really needed this to happen tonight, a sort of symbolic new beginning for them all. He decided to keep those thoughts to himself, figuring the night had gone too well for them at this stage.

Dan decided to lighten the mood as well. "Were you actually given that much discretion in your handmaiden duties?"

Serena laughed. "I decided it was for a good cause."

"I'd say our work here is done. We really should find Jenny and get her home soon," Dan said, grabbing Serena's hand. "Besides, I'm not sure I want to be here when the masks come off."

Jenny walked quickly toward the street to hail them a taxi, Dan and Serena holding hands a few paces behind. Serena lightly squeezed Dan's hand and nudged his shoulder. "Look over there," Serena said excitedly.

Dan followed Serena's gaze and saw Nate giving Blair a light kiss before entering a limo. "Looks like things worked out," Dan said, then removed his hand from Serena's. He then flung his arm around Serena's shoulder and picked up their pace to catch up Jenny. He flung his other arm over his sister's shoulder affectionately.

"So, Jen, how was your first masked ball?"

Jenny smiled, though Dan saw the hints of a mischievous smirk as well. "It went really well. Let's just say I took care of some unfinished business and leave it at that."

Just then a taxi pulled up, and the three of them got in. During the ride home, Jenny grinned to herself out the window while Dan and Serena sat in contented silence, happy to have spent a relatively drama free evening together.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: This chapter is still pretty close to canon with some minor adjustments. As the chapters progress, it will get more and more AU as things change. This chapter borders on MA, but nothing too severely graphic. As always, please review! It's definitely been more work than I thought to write an AU like this as I've had to go back and review the episodes to remember how things happened in canon so I can tweak it without Vanessa's presence. _

In all his fantasies about Serena, Dan had never imagined that one day he would be making out with her outside of school. He realized fairly quickly that there was a good reason for this: brick wall makeout sessions are highly uncomfortable.

As they shifted positions awkwardly yet again, Serena giggled, "You'd think with all the money that we spent on this private school, they could at least give us a comfortable spot to make out."

Between kisses, Dan heard himself make some inane comment about his chemistry teacher. Apparently he was such a nerd that he could _always _talk about school.

Serena, however, was able to stick to the topic at hand and suggested that their parents weren't always home. Suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous about being alone with Serena, Dan mumbled about how the brick wall makeout wasn't so bad. Further complicating matters were Serena's friends acting like they were TMZ.

Just when they were overcoming the paparazzi distraction, the bell rang. They broke apart momentarily, but Serena prolonged the goodbye by placing her hands under his coat and leaning in. " We should talk about this...About us... About eventually," she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, then continued abruptly, "Or we could just get it over with in a broom closet."

Dan let out a nervous laugh, not altogether sure if she was joking. He had a feeling it wasn't entirely a joke. "Yes, a broom closet. That would be rich," he said and kissed her lightly before heading to class. He knew he was leaving Serena confused, but the truth was that he was confused as well.

He felt out of his realm. While he certainly had his baser thoughts about Serena, he for some reason had felt there would be more of a gradual progression towards physical intimacy. Maybe basing his sexual knowledge on Judy Blume's _Forever _had not served him well. It certainly hadn't prepared him for the pacing of a sexual relationship with Serena van der Woodson. The prospect was both exciting and terrifying.

Dan slept restlessly that night, plagued with thoughts about sex with Serena. He wanted her-how could he not? However, it was no secret Serena was more experienced than he was. He had heard the rumors; after he had started dating her all kinds of strangers loved to share the rumors with him. While he took many of them with a grain of salt, he knew enough to know that he and Serena had vastly different levels of sexual experience. It was intimidating, and it had given him quite the complex.

His anxiety had spilled into this dreams. He was in the middle of a particularly bizarre dream involving Kati and Iz rating his sexual performance when his dad's voice filtered through and he slowly began to wake up. He wasn't sure what was worse: the humiliation of his dream or the words coming from outside his doorway.

"Yes, Allison, I did encourage you...to do your paintings, not the next-door neighbor. Hello? Hello?"

Dan let his father's words sink in for a moment. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to hide out and pretend or to face the situation head on. Thinking of the regrets he had articulated to Blair regarding his mother, he decided it was time for him to face reality. More importantly, it was time for his father to do the same.

Groggily, Dan exited his bedroom to his dad's mumbled apologies. Dan didn't want apologies; he just wanted some truth for the first time in a long time.

"The situation with your mother is...complicated," his father tried to explain.

"Mom's having an affair," Dan said bluntly. "It's easy when you just say it."

His father told him it's harder than that when telling your son. While on some level Dan felt bad for his dad and Jenny and about the disintegration of his family, on another level he felt relieved. It was easier to deal with facts than with possibilities.

"No, because now I know why she's never, ever coming home," Dan tells his father, feeling bold for putting the words out there.

At that moment, Jenny announced her presence and his father took off under the guise of buying groceries. Dan felt frustrated all over again as so much was still left up in the air. He had a feeling his father would never bring up the subject again unless it was absolutely necessary. Dan went back to his room to do homework, knowing he was abandoning his sister who probably knew more than she let on. It wasn't his responsibility to tell Jenny the truth, and Jenny had very carefully avoided asking any questions that would lead to answers she didn't want to hear.

The next morning, Dan's dad and Jenny decided to go run errands and promised to return with breakfast. Dan figured they'd be gone for at least an hour and a half, so he notified Serena of his empty apartment.

Dan was still anxious about what might happen with him, Serena and the empty loft. He kept remembering his ramblings about sex with Vanessa, where he would compare sex to art. Dan felt a small twinge of embarrassment at the recollection. Before being faced with the reality of a girl who wanted to sleep with him, it had been easy to pretentiously intellectualize the sexual act. In theory, sex had seemed like a mode of expression like dance or painting. While he wasn't completely disabused of that notion now that reality was smacking him in the face, he also was seeing how much more raw and instinctual it was to just _want _someone.

He liked to think he was above such things, that he was so highly evolved in his intellect that he wasn't just some horny teenage boy who just wanted to get some from his girlfriend. However, he also knew he hadn't invited Serena to his empty loft to talk about literature.

He had no idea how Serena got to Brooklyn so quickly, but she arrived a good ten minutes sooner than he had expected. The second he opened the door, she jumped him. They broke apart, both of them breathless.

Serena rewarded him with a flirtatious smile. "Just to be safe, we should probably take this to your bedroom."

"Follow me, m'lady," Dan told her in his best gentlemanly voice. He held out his hand and led her to his room.

When they entered the bedroom and shut the door behind them, Serena immediately pushed him to the bed and began to kiss him aggressively. Overwhelmed, Dan pulled back and commented on the brightness of the room. He was pretty sure he made some mention of needing a Clapper. He felt vaguely embarrassed even as the words came out his mouth. She kissed him again, likely just to shut him up.

Soon she had worked his shirt open and began to work on her own bodice. As soon as he caught sight of her bra, his baser instincts kicked in and he leaned toward her neck.

From there, he wasn't cognizant of much and acted purely on instinct. The next thing he knew, he was clad only in his boxers and Serena was in her underwear and bra. He felt Serena reach into his boxers and hold him in her hand as she magically produced a condom and smiled at him.

"Next time we'll try for fully naked. Keeping some clothes on makes it easier should we be interrupted," Serena said as she rolled the condom on and moved him into position.

Her words were prophetic, as Dan could barely even articulate the thought _I'm having sex_ before he heard his dad's voice booming into the loft announcing that breakfast was here. The mood effectively killed, they quickly broke apart and scrambled for their clothes.

After they were fully clothed, Dan turned to Serena. "You hungry?" he asked wryly.

Dan spent the rest of the day freaking out about his almost/maybe sexual encounter. Trust him to not even know if he'd lost his virginity or not. Dan had often felt like he lived his life for the purpose of the story that his life experiences provoked, which made him decide he did not want to consider that moment his first sexual encounter.

The whole thing was making him more anxious than ever. Too embarrassed to watch porn, he decidedly to rent a Swedish film with a very prurient bent. This did not help him learn anything by way of sexual technique. Even worse, he had begun to put a face to his hangups, and that was the very handsome face of Nate Archibald.

Dan of course knew very little about Serena's encounter with Nate outside of the basics. Rationally, he knew they had both been drunk and Nate was sexually inexperienced. However, he was also Nate Archibald, one of those people who seemed to be able to coast effortlessly through life. He had a feeling that Nate did not share Dan's sexual inhibitions. How could he if he and Serena had on a bar, too caught up in each other to care if anyone was watching? Unfortunately, his writer's mind was cursed with a vivid and detailed imagination.

The house phone rang, snapping him out of his revelry.

"Hello," Dan answered.

"Oh, it's you Cabbage Patch. Is your sister there?" Dan sighed. Blair Waldorf was not going to help ease his tension.

"No, Blair. I'm sure she's off doing your bidding somewhere," Dan told her, still not completely understanding Blair's power over his sister. "Can I take a message?"

"No, I'll keep texting her. She'll respond if she knows what's good for her," Blair said, then paused and continued. "So, how does it feel to lose your half-virginity? Is it like being half a man"

Dan groaned. Word traveled fast.

"Serena told you?"

"Of course she told me. Normal people tell their best friends everything," Blair said in an exasperated tone. "You would know about that if you had any friends."

Before biting back with a retort, Dan took a breath and calmed himself. He realized that Blair might be the one person who could ease his anxieties. He bristled as he prepared to move forward with this conversation. Blair might be right about his need to find some friends.

"So...my...uh...encounter with Serena has left me a bit...anxious," Dan said.

Dan was pretty sure he could hear her eye roll through the phone. "Anxious about what, exactly? That only you could find yourself in a position where you don't know if you're a virgin or not?"

Dan sighed. "Isn't the whole virginity label pretty arbitrary anyhow? Who gets to decide that definition?"

Blair laughed at him. "Humphrey, you can intellectualize the situation all you want, but at the end of the day you don't know if you completed one of life's big milestones or not. You're in sexual purgatory, my half-virgin non-friend."

Realizing that they were getting off track, he decided to be cut to the chase. "Look, I know Serena is more...experienced than I am. I think about having sex with her and all I can see are the faceless investment bankers and boarding school professors...and Nate."

The line was silent for a beat, and he was afraid he had gotten too personal by bringing up Nate. Finally, Blair spoke again. "Settle down, Humphrey. It's true that Serena is far more experienced than you, and has been with lots of guys with more sexual prowess."

"Thanks, Waldorf," Dan grumbled.

"If you'd let me finish, I'll get to the helpful part," Blair said in a curt tone. "She's had lots of sex. She's never had a boyfriend before, not a real one at least. What she wants right now is to feel closer to you, the actual sex is just one part of that." Blair was speaking in an almost wistful tone at the end, and he thought he heard a slight sniffle.

"Are you okay," he asked softly.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Blair snapped.

"No reason, Waldorf," Dan told her, not wanting to completely destroy the moment. "Thanks for the advice."

"Don't get used to it, Cabbage Patch," Blair deflected.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Waldorf," Dan said in return and hung up.

Later that day, his dad caught him reading up on sensual massage, and he had to stammer out a lame excuse about feeling tension in his neck. His dad caught on quickly, and Dan really did not want to have any kind of sex talk with him. Luckily, his father kept it brief and advised him to lose Cedric and the football sheets before informing him that his dad would be at the gallery all night and that Jenny would be there as well.

Dan flew into action. He texted Serena that the coast was clear for at least a few hours. He threw Cedric under the bed and replaced the football sheets. He then sat on the couch and awaited Serena's arrival.

Dan hurried to the door when he heard a tentative knock. When he opened it, he saw Serena looking as anxious has he'd ever seen her.

He motioned for her to come in and kissed her briefly. She grinned shyly as they stared at each other awkwardly.

"So, this morning was...weird," Serena said, still not able to meet his eyes.

"Yeah, my family has impeccable timing, don't they?"

Serena laughed and looked a bit more relaxed. "It was definitely a mood killer."

Dan led her to the couch where they sat down, a foot separating them.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Dan couldn't take it anymore. "Serena, I didn't invite you over tonight for sex."

Serena raised an eyebrow at him. Dan smiled and shrugged in return before continuing, "Well...I'm up for...I mean open to...it if that's what you want. But it's okay if that's not what you want."

Serena smiled wide, charmed by his stammering. Dan was eternally grateful that his nervous talking seemed to miraculously be a good thing in her eyes.

"I like you," Serena told him sincerely. "I might have been rushing things a bit. I'm sorry if I came on too strong and freaked you out." Serena looked down sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for being so irresistible," Dan said teasingly. "And no need to apologize. Feel free to come on that strong again."

Serena laughed and gave him a light shove. Then she turned serious. "Would you hate me if I said I wanted to wait? I like how we are right now."

"I like how we are too. And of course we can wait," Dan told her, slipping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Anyhow, it's been a long few days."

"Because of us?" Serena asked.

Dan shook his head. "Not just us. Well, Blair calling me a half-virgin didn't help, but I had some other things on my mind, things I haven't really shared with you."

Serena buried her face in her hands. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry about Blair."

"It's okay. She keeps life interesting," Dan shrugged.

"Sorry, what were you going to tell me?"

Dan took a deep breath, thinking about what Blair told him about Serena wanting to get closer to him.

"Well, it looks like my mom is having an affair..."


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter, largely because there's more DB. Let me know if you agree! It was fun to get to go a bit more AU and try to fill in some gaps about Nate/Blair/Chuck in this universe. I know there's still a lot of DS, but I hate when DB stories make DS completely insignificant or make Serena seem completely vapid to make DB work. I like the DS dynamic, and I think it's interesting to play with their relationship if you take away a lot of the more dramatic moments. That being said, I hope you enjoy the extra DB interplay here, as they are my favorite to write by far. (Sorry if you tried to read earlier-I noticed a few errors and took down the chapter and revised.)**_

Dan sat in a cab next to his sister, gearing himself up for Blair Waldorf's birthday party. Jenny couldn't more more excited about the invitation, but Dan felt quite a bit of trepidation. While he and Serena had fun at the masked ball, Blair's birthday was a much more intimate affair. It would also require much more interaction than he'd ever had with Serena's friends.

"So what did you get Blair?" Jenny asked, breaking him out of his revelry. "I just brought a card that I made, figuring there wasn't much I could give Blair Waldorf."

"I'm sure a card is fine. My present isn't much. It's just a bit of an inside joke," Dan explained.

"Since when do you and Blair have inside jokes?" Jenny asked quizzically.

"Uh, not really an inside joke, I guess. Just something I thought she'd appreciate based on our brief encounters," Dan said, suddenly feeling a bit panicked about his gift. He was really just hoping for an opportunity to continue to cut through her icy exterior. He felt like he was beginning to chip away, slowly but surely.

The cab stopped at what was apparently their destination. He paid the driver as Jenny's attention was immediately diverted elsewhere.

"Hey, isn't that Nate lurking over there?" Jenny asked, pointing to a figure standing beside the stairwell of the building.

After thanking the driver, Dan shifted his attention to where Jenny was pointing. Sure enough, there was Nate, blankly staring straight ahead.

"Yeah, that's him. He's probably just taking a breather from the party."

"If I were him, I'd probably take an all-night breather after what happened with his family. It would suck to have to answer all those questions from people," Jenny said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I imagine tonight won't be much fun for him," Dan said, beginning to feel concerned. "Hey, Jen, why don't you head on up? Tell Serena I'll be right up. I want to go say hi to Nate."

Jenny looked at him funny, but shrugged her shoulders. "Okay...this is becoming a bit of a habit for you. Hopefully Serena won't get jealous," she teased before flouncing away with a casual wave to Nate that he didn't even notice.

Dan carefully approached Nate, not knowing quite what to say. He decided to keep it simple and started with a simple, "Hey, how's it going?"

Nate shrugged, giving away nothing about his mood. "Just trying to get myself geared up for the party."

"Sorry to hear about your dad. Was this what you were talking about the other day? That's a lot to carry around," Dan said sympathetically.

Nate gave a short scoff. "No, I only knew about the cocaine. Now I'd kill to go back to that being the only problem."

Dan really didn't know what to say. His mother's affair seemed so insignificant in comparison to the very public scandal which Nate's dad was involved in, a problem which was very likely to get worse before it got better.

"Maybe you should head up to the party and try and take your mind off of things," Dan suggested.

"I'll head up in a bit," Nate said, not sounding enthused about the prospect. "Seeing Blair will just make it all worse."

Dan wasn't sure what he meant by that, and Nate didn't elaborate. Deciding not to pry, Dan gave Nate a friendly pat on the shoulder, not sure if the gesture was appropriate.

"I know it sounds trite, but it might make you feel better to be around people who care about you," Dan said.

"Yeah, maybe," Nate said noncommittally.

"I should probably head in," Dan said, feeling bad about leaving Nate. "You sure you're okay, man?"

"I'll be okay. I'm just not very good company right now," Nate said. "Enjoy the party."

"All right, hope to see you up there," Dan said as he walked up the stairs into the building.

When he opened the door to the party, it looked like Japan had exploded all around him. He wasn't sure why there was a Japanese theme; there wasn't anything about Blair Waldorf that screamed Japan. Of course, until a few weeks ago Dan had thought you could have a birthday party where the theme was "birthday."

Dan immediately started scanning the room for Serena, and quickly spotted her standing beside Blair. Serena smiled a wide, happy grin when she noticed him. He smiled back, feeling more confident as he approached Serena and Blair.

"Hey," he said as Serena wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. He gave her a quick kiss and Serena pulled away and moved to his side. He immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Happy birthday, Blair," Dan said, turning his attention to Blair. "Thanks for letting me come to your soiree. It's very...oriental."

"You're welcome," Blair said curtly, rolling her eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to understand the importance of a theme."

Dan shrugged. "At my last birthday, we just had a couple of balloons and a cake."

"And who all was there? Your parents and Jenny?"

Dan wished he had a retort, but sadly it was true. Except his mom had remained in Hudson, which made it even sadder. They had celebrated a second time in Hudson, with a cake and no balloons. The story had been that it was better that he got to celebrate his birthday twice, but it had really just served to make him twice as sad about his lonely existence.

"Well, how about you plan my birthday next year, Waldorf. We can do a Mexican theme. I've always wanted a pinata," Dan finally said in return.

"Serena," Blair whined. "Can you tell your boyfriend that it's rude to antagonize the birthday girl?"

Serena laughed and turned to Dan. "Dan, you need to be as nice to Blair as she is to you."

"I can do that," Dan laughed.

Blair shot them both one of her withering glares. "Ugh. Go be cute somewhere else. I'm going to go on to the terrace and call Nate. Again."

Blair stormed off before Dan could even contemplate telling Blair where Nate was. He had thought Jenny might have mentioned it, but apparently Jenny had decided staying uninvolved was the best way to remain in Blair's good graces.

"So, what do you want to do besides be cute?" Dan said into Serena's ear, pulling her closer.

"I was thinking of showing off my Guitar Hero skills," Serena said with a sly smile.

"You have Guitar Hero skills?" Dan asked, not expecting that. "You continue to surprise me."

Serena shrugged. "We spent a lot of time in our rooms at boarding school and I discovered a hidden talent for it," she said, then her voice turned flirtatious as she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I bet I'm no match for you with your rock star father."

"I think you'd be greatly disappointed," Dan said in mock sadness. "While I can play an actual guitar reasonably well, it seems that skill does not translate to simulated guitar playing. I seem to do better with musicality than eye hand coordination."

Serena giggled. "Then I guess you're going to have to be my groupie," she said as she kissed him with a bit more intent than he was expecting. He kissed her back briefly and pulled away, not wanting to cause a scene or face another round of streaming video.

"I think it's time I got see these skills in action," Dan told her as he withdrew from her embrace and grabbed her hand. "I will stand on the sidelines, watching in admiration like any good groupie."

"Like any good rock star, I'm looking forward to how my groupie shows admiration after the show," Serena said mischievously.

"Not to kill the mood," Dan said with a grimace, "but any talk of rock stars and groupies...uh..._ after the show _just makes me think of my dad and parts of his past I very intentionally never, ever ask him about. Or think about."

Serena kissed him on the cheek apologetically. "Sorry about that."

As promised, Dan stood and watched in admiration as Serena played Guitar Hero. She came alive, going all into her performance, swinging her hair and body in a completely carefree way. He could see all eyes were on her, and it was hard to look away. "Free Bird" really did seem to be her anthem. He gave a passing thought to the fact that she rarely seemed quite this open when they were together, like there was some part of her that felt on guard when she was with him. He let that thought leave as quickly as it came, instead deciding to focus on the fact that this girl was at this party with _him_. It still seemed really unbelievable at times.

Deciding he needed to take a breather, Dan caught Serena's eye and motioned that he was heading to the terrace. Serena smiled and nodded, her eyes remaining focused on the screen.

Once Dan stepped onto the terrace, he almost turned right around. Right in front of him stood Chuck and Blair, clearly involved in some sort of heated conversation. Unfortunately, Chuck spotted him almost immediately and gave him a snide look.

"Blair, you used to have higher standards for who you invited to these things," Chuck said, more to Dan than to Blair.

Blair spoke before Dan had a chance to retort. "I also apparently need to increase my security, seeing as how some people crashed the party uninvited," Blair said to Chuck pointedly.

"I'm willing to be your security detail free of charge," Dan offered.

"I don't think my birthday party needs your personal brand of security, Brooklyn," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "Some of us were raised to demonstrate some decorum, present company excluded."

"You know that Chuck Bass doesn't need decorum," Chuck said smugly. "Money talks louder than social graces."

"Why don't you have your money talk somewhere else?" Blair asked in a frustrated tone.

Dan shot a glare at Chuck. "You heard the birthday girl. Scram."

Chuck leisurely rolled his eyes. "Your white knight act is beginning to get on my nerves," he drawled, but he turned around and left anyhow.

Blair shot him a look. "I really didn't need you to save me from Chuck Bass," she told him.

Dan shrugged. "I never said you did. I'll admit I just enjoy getting a rise out him."

Dan saw Blair try not to smile. "Can you please try to behave? Your next invitation could get lost in the mail."

"I feel pretty good about my chances in the future. I'm closely connected to your invitation maker," Dan teased. His face then turned more serious. "What was Bass's problem anyhow?"

"I don't know. Ever since he dared me into that stupid burlesque routine for him and Nate the other night he's been acting creepy, even for Chuck," Blair said.

Dan had seen the Gossip Girl blast about the burlesque routine, but he hadn't really given the rumor much credence. The pictures had been really fuzzy.

"Wow. So that really happened? I didn't know you had it in you, Waldorf."

Blair shot him a haughty look. "Neither did Chuck. Or Nate for that matter. It was all perfectly innocent-I was fully clothed. You boys can just be so ridiculous sometimes."

Dan shrugged and grinned. "Can't argue with that," he told her, then a thought struck him. He smiled even wider. "You do know that Chuck is basically doing the teenage version of dipping your pigtails in ink."

Blair gave his shoulder a light slap. "Don't be silly, Humphrey," she snapped. "Besides, where did you pull that expression from, the 19th century?"

"Didn't you know that public schools still use inkwells?" Dan said with a deadpan expression.

"Please. I'm spoiled and overprivileged, but I'm not stupid."

Dan laughed, and suddenly remembered the package in his pocket. "I almost forgot. Happy birthday," Dan said as he handed her the package.

"You already told me happy birthday. I'm surprised you had the tact to bring a gift," she said, eyeing the package suspiciously. "No card? What if you hadn't had the chance to talk to me, how would I have known where to have Dorota send the thank you note?"

Dan sighed. "Just open it, Waldorf."

Blair opened the present with agonizing slowness, as though she thought that it may contain some sort of contagion. Dan had to fight the urge to grab it from her hands and rip open the paper himself.

When the present was revealed, Blair shot him an inscrutable look and raised an eyebrow at him. "_A Handmaid's Tale_?" she asked with an edge of disbelief. "Really?"

Dan shrugged and smirked at her. "I thought you might value a different perspective on the tyranny of the upperclass."

"Don't worry, I never had any intentions of having your sister carry my children," Blair told him.

"Good to know," Dan told her. "I didn't know what to get the girl who has everything, especially anything I could afford from my recycled bottle return money."

"Thank you, Humphrey," Blair said, her expression softening a bit. "It's sad that Serena's boyfriend bought me a present and my own boyfriend can't be bothered to show up."

Dan tried to get a gauge of her mood, trying to figure out how much to share. "I'm sure it's hard for him to face everyone."

"Why can't he just tell me that?" she asked, clearly not expecting an answer. Her expression hardened then, and she became completely unreadable. "He'll be here, or at least call at midnight. He's never missed my birthday."

"You seem to like to give out a lot of midnight deadlines," Dan said before he could stop himself. "Isn't it all a bit dramatic?"

"Shut up, Humphrey," Blair said and sighed, not much bite to her retort.

Normally, Dan would take this as his cue to leave, but for some reason he remained glued in place. He and Blair stood in silence for several minutes, and he was startled when she was the one to break it.

"So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" she asked.

Dan was surprised by the topic change. Blair had never attempted small talk with him. Of course, Dan was terrible at small talk. "My mom's coming home for Thanksgiving," he blurted.

"You don't sound too happy about it. You still haven't talked to her about how you feel?"

Dan shook his head and looked straight ahead, not wanting to look Blair in the eye. "No, I could never find the words," he said in a distant voice. "Also, I know she's having an affair, so this whole happy family Thanksgiving is more of a charade than ever."

"Maybe something will get resolved," Blair suggested. "There's nothing like a dramatic family blowup to iron out issues."

"Maybe," Dan said doubtfully. "So, what about your Thanksgiving?"

Blair beamed. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her smile so genuinely; her eyes even lit up.

"My dad is coming back from France. I haven't seen him in months," she told him.

"That should be fun. I'm glad one of us is happy that a parent is coming home for Thanksgiving," Dan told her sincerely.

"There you two are!" a cheerful voice boomed from the doorway, startling them both. "I'm glad I came when I did, or one of you might have been pushed off the roof."

"I was getting close to jumping if Humphrey kept droning on about his mom coming back for Thanksgiving," Blair said in mock exasperation.

Serena's face went from happy to hurt in an instant. "You didn't tell me your mom was coming home, but you just talked to _Blair_ about it?"

"Serena, I can explain..." Dan started. Serena went storming off. He shot a glare at Blair before he followed Serena into the bedroom where they could talk privately.

"Serena, I'm sorry about that," Dan began again. "I wasn't trying to hide anything from you."

"I just understand why you're sharing things with someone you don't even like instead of me. I'm your girlfriend; I want to be the first person you share important things with," she said in a hurt tone.

"You're not jealous of Blair, are you?" Dan asked. He really just hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Serena that day, and he hadn't wanted to bring down her mood at the party.

"Of course not. I know you don't even like her."

"I wouldn't go that far. I'm seeing different sides of her. She's smart, funny, strangely easy to talk to..." Dan trailed off. "And I'll stop right there, as I don't think I'm helping my cause."

"Really, it's not about Blair," Serena said with an exasperated sigh. "It's about us. I guess I didn't think you talked about your family with anyone but me."

Dan softened, and tried to explain himself as best he could. "I think I told Blair about my mom _because _we don't particularly like each other," Dan said, and Serena looked more confused than before. "I don't know if I even want to see my mom right now, but I also feel like that makes me a bad person. I don't care what Blair thinks about me, so in a strange way it makes it easier to tell her stuff."

"I actually want you to like Blair, and even care what she thinks," Serena told him. "My life would actually be a lot better if my best friend and boyfriend got along; I just don't want to be left out."

"I will be sure to call you in the future with all of my family drama, so much so that you will try and pass the phone off to Blair," Dan told her.

Serena laughed and gave him a quick kiss. "I look forward to it. We should get back to the party. It will be midnight pretty soon."

Suddenly, Dan had a thought. "Why don't you go keep Blair company, and I'll be there in a second. I need to do step out for a second," Dan said.

Serena gave him a confused look. "It's nothing bad, I promise. You'll hopefully figure it out soon enough," Dan told her with a kiss on the cheek before he exited.

Stepping outside the building, Dan looked around for Nate. Sure enough, Nate remained right where he left him.

"You any closer to coming in? It's almost midnight?" Dan asked.

Nate sighed. "I should probably just go home. I really just don't feel like going in."

"Blair's been looking for you," Dan said.

"I'm sure she has," Nate said with a frown. "Why do you care anyhow?"

"Don't worry, it's not that I secretly care about Blair being happy or worry about Nate Archibald distancing himself from his friends when he needs them the most," Dan told him. "It's completely selfish of me."

Nate raised an eyebrow. "Good to know."

"Serena is happy when Blair's happy. I'm happy when Serena's happy. You being at the party would make them both happy, ergo I'm make me happy," Dan explained. "Completely selfish motives. My nice guy thing is an act."

"I see," Nate said, a genuine smile breaking through.

"I will say this much-I'm beginning to discover that sometimes it's easier to talk about the hard stuff with people you don't know all that well," Dan told him sincerely. "I promise that despite popular belief, I won't judge."

"Does this offer still stand if I don't go to the party?" Nate asked.

"Of course not. It's completely contingent about you doing as I ask," Dan in a teasing voice. "I told you, I'm acting completely selfishly."

Nate laughed in return, then he turned solemn again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two boxes; one box looked like it held a ring and the other a necklace. Nate contemplated the two boxes and handed Dan the larger box.

"I just can't do it, man," Nate said in a resigned tone. "Can you give Blair her present and tell her I'll call at midnight?"

Dan tried not to be disappointed in Nate. "Are you sure? It really would make Blair happy if you came up."

Nate shrugged. "It's all I can do right now. I just can't meet one more obligation."

Dan realized that Nate wasn't going to share any more, so he took the box and headed back into the party.

When Dan returned, Serena gave him a questioning look as he approached her and Blair. He wrapped his arm around Serena's shoulder and turned to Blair.

"I have something else for the birthday girl," Dan said as he handed Blair the box. "It's from Nate. I ran into him outside and he said he had to be with his family, but he wanted me to give this to you. He also said he'd call at midnight."

Blair opened the box which revealed a stunning diamond necklace. Blair smiled. "Well, he does follow orders well."

He saw her look at her phone and frown pensively. "I'm sure he'll call, B," Serena said. Just then, her phone lit up in her hands.

"I always knew he'd call. He wouldn't blow off my birthday even with everything going on," Blair smirked, leaving to take the call in private.

"Do you want me to go help me get the cake ready? We should let Jenny help too to get in Blair's good graces," Serena said. 

"Yeah, sure," Dan said, lost in thought.

"That was a nice thing you did," Serena told him, startling him back to reality. "Was Nate out there all night? Jenny told me you were talking with him before you came in."

"Yeah, I think he just didn't want to talk to anyone"

"But he talked to you. I'm beginning to think you're not Lonely Boy anymore with all these new friends you're making," Serena teased.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far. As I told Nate, I'm really just acting selfishly. I know if your friends are happy that you're happy. When you're happy, things tend to work out well for me at the end of the night."

She gave him a light shove. "You were the one who didn't want to be my groupie."

Dan shot her a look. "Can we please not use the word groupie?"

"We'll think of something else," Serena promised before kissing him briefly. "Let's go find your sister and get the cake ready."

Dan smiled back, feeling content. All told, Blair Waldorf's birthday party could have gone much worse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews. It definitely keeps me going. Knowing that people are reading and enjoying the story definitely motivates me to continue writing. This chapter somehow ended up being the longest yet-I'm not sure how that happened. Hope you like it!**

Dan could hear rustlings from within the loft; Thanksgiving preparations were clearly under way. He decided it would be better to barricade himself in his room as long as possible, not wanting to pretend that this was a normal family holiday. He sometimes wished that he were better at denial, that his emotions didn't run so close to the surface. If he could bury his feelings deeper like everyone else seemed to do, maybe he would be better at pretending.

Dan put on his headphones, the music allowing him to block out the chipper voices from the kitchen. He figured his dad or Jenny would force him out of hiding soon enough, likely whenever his mom arrived. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Fifteen minutes later, he felt a dip in the bed followed by his headphones being ripped from his ears. "Mom's here," Jenny said happily.

Dan sighed. "I'll be out in a minute."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Why can't you just enjoy the holiday? Mom and Dad are trying. Maybe if things go well today Mom will want to come back."

"Jen..." Dan said, not wanting to hurt her with the truth but also unable to form any platitudes.

"I know about Mom's affair. You don't have to protect me," Jenny said tersely. "I just think it's a good sign that they wanted to have Thanksgiving as a family. They haven't seen each other since May."

"I don't know, Jen," Dan told her. "Don't get your hopes up."

"I won't," she promised, but Dan had a feeling it was an empty promise. The hope was coming off her in waves.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw his phone was blinking. "It looks like Serena tried to call. Let me call her back and I'll be right out, okay?"

Jenny looked at him skeptically, but nodded her head. "Okay. Can you try to be positive?"

"I'll try," Dan told her.

After Jenny left, Dan listened to his voicemail. Serena had called on her way to Blair's, wanting to wish him a happy Thanksgiving and requested frequent updates. He tried to return the call, but it went straight to voicemail. Dan hit "end" and decided to send her a text message instead.

_Happy Thanksgiving. Sorry I missed your call. My mom just got here. Wish I were with you instead of here with my family. _

Dan snapped his phone shut, hoping that was a sufficient update. His phone buzzed almost immediately, showing he had a text.

_Aw. I miss you too. Try to stay positive. Your mom's trying. _

Dan let out a mirthless laugh and shook his head. Apparently everyone thought he was being unreasonable.

_I'll do my best. Have fun with Blair. _

Dan hoped that Blair's family reunion was going better than his. Dan sighed and started to get dressed, ready to have this day over with.

When Dan entered the living area, his family was smiling and laughing like they didn't have a care in the world. Remembering his promise to Jenny and Serena, Dan plastered on a smile and entered the room.

"It's about time you emerged," his dad said jovially. "We thought you were trying to avoid the hard work of opening the cranberry sauce."

"No, I just had to call Serena," Dan said, keeping the smile on his face. He had read an article once about how the act of smiling could actually produce feelings of happiness. He was hoping that theory was right. "Toss it on over. I'm ready to get to work."

His dad tossed him the cranberry sauce, and Dan grabbed the can opener and opened the can.

"My work here is done," Dan said, setting the can on the table with a flourish.

"I think you purposely ruined the pies last year so we wouldn't ever ask you to do it again," his mom said with a teasing voice. "Luckily I picked up a couple on my way, lest you get distracted by damsels in distress."

"I think it would be safe this year," Jenny said slyly, her eyes lighting up like when she had juicy gossip to share. "Serena's the girl he sacrificed the pies for last year."

His mom gave him a quizzical look. "So you really do like them blonde and dangerous," she said, her tone not quite as light as it had been before.

Dan shrugged and shot his mom a sheepish look. "She's not so dangerous anymore," Dan said. "Probably the most dangerous thing about her is her mom. I think I might actually be killed by one of Lily van der Woodson's cold looks or sarcastic barbs someday."

Both of his parents froze. He saw his mom shoot his dad a glare that he couldn't decipher at all.

"You're dating Lily van der Woodson's daughter?" his mom finally asked.

"Uh, yeah. Do you know Lily?" Dan asked, puzzled.

"I've read about her in the society pages. It's news every time she marries a new rich husband," his mom said with a slightly bitter tone. "I'm not sure how I feel about you hanging out with families like that."

Dan was speechless. His dad still seemed oddly frozen in place. Jenny was the one who filled the awkward silence.

"You don't have to worry, Mom," Jenny said reassuringly. "Serena's really sweet, and her brother is a really good guy. We've been hanging out a lot and he's one of the most normal people at our school."

His mom looked even more distraught. "Are you dating Lily van der Woodson's son?"

Dan clenched his fists and bit his tongue, irritated at his mom as she questioned their lives after being absent for so long.

"No, we're just friends," Jenny said, confused. "I just wanted you to know you don't have to worry about Dan. The van der Woodsons are cool."

"I'm sure they are," his mom said. "Has your father even met her before letting you get so involved with her daughter?"

Dan had heard enough, and was about to snap when his father finally spoke up.

"Allison," his father said in a warning voice. "Let's not do this now. Serena's a lovely girl and Dan really likes her, and Eric's also a good kid."

Dan saw his mom visibly relax, apparently whatever had come over her had passed. "Dan, why don't you expand your culinary repertoire and beat the potatoes?" his mom asked brightly.

Dan gaped at her, startled by the rapid shift in tone. He was still angry, and he was tired of suppressing it.

"You can't just do that," Dan snapped. "You can't forget to be a parent for six months then expect to have a say in my life."

"Dan, please," Jenny begged.

"No, Jen. I can't do this anymore. I know I said I'd be positive, but that's before Mom started to question my relationship with Serena, ironically because she has concerns about Serena's mom," Dan said, building a head of steam. He turned to his mom. "Do you know why you don't know the girl I've been dating for more than two months? Because _you haven't been here_."

His mom looked stricken, and Jenny was close to tears. Dan felt bad for hurting Jenny, but it felt good to finally come clean. His father looked furious.

"Dan, apologize to your mother," his father said in a serious tone.

"I'm not apologizing," Dan said sullenly. "I didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"You need to learn that there's a time to be honest and a time to be kind," his dad said. "Sometimes you can't be both."

Dan took a breath, trying to calm himself down. He suddenly didn't feel so angry anymore, just sad and resigned.

"I don't think it's kind to give people false hope," Dan finally said. He turned to his mother. "I'm just so tired of no one telling me what's going on with my own family, but I guess I should expect it because I'm too afraid to ask the question."

"Dan, please don't do this," Jenny begged again, tears filling her eyes.

Dan walked over to his sister and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sorry, Jen," he said softly in her ear. "I think we need to know so we can live our lives, one way or the other."

He saw his sister nod sadly before he turned to his parents, who were staring at the scene before them. Dan had a feeling the effects of their broken relationship hadn't registered with them before.

"Mom," Dan said, beginning the speech he'd rehearsed in his head dozens of times before. "If you want to be in this family, then stay and we'll all work on it together. If you're gone for good, I just want to know. Please, just tell me. Are you going to stay in Hudson?"

His mom didn't answer, but her sad look said it all.

"We've decided we're getting a divorce," his dad said. "We just wanted to give you guys one more family holiday before we told you."

Dan shook his head, dismayed at how misguided his parents had been. No matter what, family memories would always be somewhat bittersweet in the future. They would always contain memories of something they'd lost.

"I just remembered I wanted to do a few things at the gallery," his dad said. "You guys should sit and enjoy dinner. I'll be back in a few hours."

Jenny and Dan exchanged awkward looks as their dad walked out. Dan knew how much Jenny had missed their mom, and he was tired of being angry.

"Thank you for being honest," Dan said sincerely. "I know you guys are trying to protect us, but we can handle the truth."

"I know," his mom said. "It doesn't mean that your father and I could handle it."

Jenny then wrapped their mom in a hug. "We'll be okay, right?"

Dan joined in the hug, wrapping his arms around them both. "We'll all be okay."

He stayed like that for a moment, then backed away. He really had nothing more to say.

"I think I'm going to go take a walk and clear my head," he said. "I think you guys could use some female bonding time anyhow."

Jenny shot him a grateful look. "Sure, you just want to call your girlfriend," she teased.

Dan grinned. "You got me, Jen," he said in return, even though he really hadn't been intending to call Serena. "You guys have fun."

Dan stepped out onto the street, unsure of where he wanted to go. He realized that he hadn't actually eaten anything. He decided to set out in search of a restaurant that was open on Thanksgiving.

He checked his phone to see if Serena had been trying to contact him, but he had no missed calls or messages. He figured she got tied up in the festivities at Blair's. He walked for about ten minutes, lost in thought as he enjoyed the brisk fall air.

His phone startled him about of his revelry. Expecting Serena, Dan was surprised when a male voice spoke. "Hey, it's Nate."

"What's up?" Dan asked, confused. He wasn't entirely sure how Nate even had his number.

"I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to call on Thanksgiving. I'm sure you're with your family," Nate said apologetically.

"Actually, the Humphreys preemptively ended their dysfunctional family holiday and I'm just wandering the streets looking for food," Dan told him.

Nate laughed. "Any luck?"

Dan spotted a diner that looked open. "I think I just hit paydirt," Dan said as he entered the diner. "I'm assuming from the fact that you called me that your Thanksgiving dinner went about as well as mine."

"You could say that," Nate said. "I stormed out and ended up alone in the park smoking a joint."

"Ah. I should have figured you would have to be high to call me," Dan said lightly. "You do know this is Dan Humphrey and not Chuck, right? Dan would likely come right after Chuck alphabetically."

"Yes, I know who this is," Nate huffed.

"Just checking. I've been accidentally invited to a party or two in my day, and just last year Serena was calling me 'Dave'."

"I knew who I was calling," Nate said, suddenly sounding serious. "I was hoping I could take you up on your offer from the other day. Plus, between skipping out on Thanksgiving dinner and getting high, I'm really hungry."

"Come on over. I could use the company," Dan said. "We'll form our own little Breakfast Club. We can bond over how our dysfunctional families and adolescent angst bring us together even though we come from vastly different backgrounds."

"I thought the Breakfast Club people were all friends," Nate said confusedly.

Dan groaned. "All this expensive education, and you're unfamiliar with a modern movie classic like the _Breakfast Club," _Dan shook his head, even though Nate couldn't see it. _"_Maybe that's why no one at school talks to me; everyone would understand that it's okay to be from the other side of the tracks if they'd just watched more John Hughes flicks."

"I can see how that would be a lot more useful than Latin," Nate agreed. "Where are you? I'm getting really hungry, man."

Dan gave Nate the address and then sat down in a booth. He had just ordered a drink when he received a text message from Serena.

_911. Blair and I just stormed out of the Waldorfs without dinner. Sad, lost and hungry. :(_

Dan laughed wryly. It looked like it was a bad Thanksgiving all around.

_I'm sitting in a diner after our dinner fell apart. _

_Text me the address. We'll come keep you company. :)_

Dan sighed and texted her the address. He hoped he wasn't setting up a second awkward Thanksgiving for everyone involved, but he also didn't want to tell anyone they couldn't come. He figured no matter what it would be better than things had been with their respective families.

Nate arrived first, plopping across from him with a sigh. "Look, man, I know I said I wanted to take you up on your offer to talk, but I think I just want to avoid talking about my family," Nate said.

Dan handed him a menu. "Sounds good to me," Dan told him. "What do you think I should eat, a cheeseburger or a Rueben?"

Nate pondered this for a moment. "I was thinking turkey, it being Thanksgiving and all."

"Good call," Dan agreed.

They each ordered a turkey sandwich and fries when the waitress came. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments. Dan gave Nate a contemplative look, tilting his head slightly.

"So, outside of a few basic facts, I really don't know much about you," Dan said curiously. "Outside of hanging out with Chuck Bass and smoking joints in the park, what does Nate Archibald do when he's not in school?"

Nate laughed good-naturedly. "I dress up and attend society events with Blair a lot," Nate offered. "But that's almost as mandatory as going to school."

"I can imagine Blair being a bit….pushy about such things," Dan agreed.

"It's not just Blair, it's my parents too," Nate said. "I like to play sports. Soccer is probably my favorite."

"I like soccer," Dan said. "Watching, that is, but not so much with the playing. I've never been much of an athlete."

"You should think about joining the team," Nate said enthusiastically. "We have almost no reserves and we could use people who at least understand the game."

"I don't know…." Dan trailed off. "I'm not much of a _joiner_."

Nate just looked amused. Suddenly, his expression shifted and he looked confused. "Is that Serena and Blair?"

Dan shot him a sheepish grin. "Yeah, they stormed out of the Waldorfs when you were on your way here. Serena sort of invited them here and I couldn't say no."

Nate sighed as the girls approached their booth. "Nate?" Blair asked, furrowing her brow. "My mom said you were having a private Thanksgiving with your family."

"That's one way of putting it," Nate scoffed.

A look of realization crossed Blair's face. "She disinvited you guys because of the scandal," Blair said, shaking her head. "Of course she lied about that too."

"Why don't you guys sit down and order?" Dan suggested.

"It's about time you offered, Humphrey," Blair huffed as she scooted in next to Nate.

Serena sat down and moved close to Dan, nabbing a fry off his plate. She looked at Nate quizzically. "What are you doing here, Nate?"

"I couldn't take it with my parents anymore, so I left. Then I called Dan and he had already left Thanksgiving too," Nate explained. "My mom is in rare form."

Serena and Blair shot Nate sympathetic looks. Not knowing Nate's mom, Dan could only imagine the type of person Ann Archibald was. Nate seemed good-natured enough, so it seemed hard to believe she could be so bad.

"So how was it seeing your dad?" Dan asked Blair, hoping maybe something had gone well today.

"I wouldn't know. He's still in France." Blair said angrily. My mother lied and told him I didn't want to see him, hence the storming out. How was seeing your mom?"

Dan shrugged. "About as I expected, though I told her off and my parents finally admitted they're getting divorced."

Nate made a face. "Sorry, man. That sucks."

Serena looked hurt. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't want to ruin your Thanksgiving. After they told me I just took a walk to clear my head, then Nate called. Not much to tell anyhow. It's not like I didn't see it coming," Dan said, surprised by his own calmness on the subject.

Serena looked pacified by his explanation and leaned into him. "I'm really sorry about your parents," she said.

"I think I'm just relieved to finally know," Dan said. "I think we'll all be better off."

"God, how are all our parents so messed up?" Blair asked, exasperated.

"I didn't have any problems with my mom today," Serena said with a huge grin. "I can't believe that my family is the most functional today."

Serena was momentarily distracted by her phone. "Well, speaking of which, Eric just texted me that Mom wants us to spend the rest of the evening together as a family. B, will you be okay if I leave you here with the boys?"

"I can't believe I'm spending my Thanksgiving with Dan Humphrey," Blair pouted.

"Aw, B, he's going through a personal crisis. Be nice," Serena said sweetly and gave Dan a quick kiss before leaving the booth.

"So, then there were three," Dan said. "If you guys want to spend some time alone, I can head out."

"No," Blair and Nate said in unison then exchanged a look that Dan found both comical and sort of sad.

"All right, I'll stay if you insist," Dan said easily.

"Don't do us any favors," Blair grumbled. Dan smiled and flung a fry at her. She looked at him appalled, and he responded with a smug grin.

"I can't take you two anywhere," Nate said, shaking his head in mock exasperation.

Dan laughed as Blair shot him a glare.

"I wonder if this place has pumpkin pie," Dan said. "I didn't get any pie last year either, and it never seems like Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie."

Blair's softened immediately. "I would be up for some pie," she said softly.

"See, you guys have something in common," Nate said. "Blair's biggest Thanksgiving tradition is her pumpkin pie."

"You actually make it? We Humphreys just go to the store," Dan said. Dan smiled, remembering the year before. "You know Waldorf, the first time we met involved pie."

"I'd never met you before the Bass brunch, Humphrey," Blair said haughtily. "You clearly have me mixed up with someone else."

Dan shook his head and smirked. "Nope, I remember very clearly. Serena was drunk and walking through traffic, and I valiantly threw my pies onto the road and rescued her from near certain death. Then you accused me of prowling for drunk girls to take advantage of on Thanksgiving, as if that's even a thing."

Before Blair could respond, Nate's phone rang. Dan and Blair turned their attention to Nate as they saw him suddenly look panicked.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," Nate said, hanging up the phone. In a daze, Nate opened his wallet and pulled out a fifty and laid it on the table. "My dad's in the hospital," Nate said distantly.

"What happened?" Blair asked worriedly.

"I don't know. I just need to get there. I'll see you guys later," Nate said, motioning for Blair to move out of the booth.

"We're not letting you go alone," Dan said.

Blair shot him a surprised look but didn't argue. "You should be with friends," Blair agreed.

Nate didn't appear to have the energy to argue, so the three of them jumped in a cab.

"What did your mom say exactly?" Blair asked gently, trying to get some details.

Nate shrugged. "Just that he's in the hospital and she'd tell me more when I got there. She sounded more angry than anything else."

"Then he's probably okay," Dan reasoned. "She'd probably be more sad if it was something really serious."

"I guess so," Nate said, not sounding convinced.

They sat in silence the rest of the way to the hospital, each of them lost in their own thoughts. When they entered the hospital, Nate hesitated.

"Thank you guys for coming, but you can go home," he said. "I'll be okay."

Dan sensed that he didn't want them here to witness his reaction to any news he received.

"How about Blair and I go grab some coffee, and we'll go meet you in the waiting room once you know what's going on?" Dan offered.

"That sounds good," Nate said, clearly relieved.

Nate went on ahead, and Blair and Dan went to fetch coffee as promised. When Blair and Dan approached the waiting area, Nate and his mother were caught up in a tense exchange. Blair put a hand out to stop Dan's approach, indicating that they shouldn't interrupt.

Nate nor his mother noticed them, even though they were close enough to overhear.

"Calm down, Mom. Blair and my friend Dan are going to be here with coffee soon," Nate said.

"I can't believe you brought Blair here," his mother said tersely. "Her mother is going to kill the deal as soon as she hears about the overdose."

"I was with them when I got the phone call," Nate explained. "They didn't want me to be alone."

"This is a family matter, Nathaniel."

Nate looked at the floor and sighed. He then made eye contact with his mom, a bit more fire in his eyes. "Make up your mind. Either you want Blair to be my girlfriend or you don't. You can't tell me to be with her then expect me to not share anything with her. You wanted me to give her an _engagement ring_, but in the next breath you're telling me to keep her out of family matters."

Blair's eyes widened, but she remained silent and frozen in place. Dan decided it was time to end this before things got worse.

"There you are," Dan called out, grabbing Nate's attention. "We were looking for you. How's your dad?"

Nate exchanged looks with his mother. "He'll be fine. It was just exhaustion from all the stress."

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan could see a fleeting look of hurt cross Blair's face. It left as quickly as it came, as Blair's face quickly became unreadable.

"I'm happy your dad is going to be okay," Blair said formally. "Dan and I should probably go back to our families. It was good to see you, Mrs. Archibald."

Dan handed over the coffee awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Nate's mom didn't seem to register that he was even there.

"Let us know if you need anything," Dan said.

"Thank you for coming," Nate said and smiled sadly. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Dan smiled back. "You too."

Blair turned and walked away quickly. Dan gave a final wave at Nate and followed her. He found her outside, tears welling up in her eyes.

He approached her carefully. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, not wanting to startle her.

She wiped at a loose tear. "What do you think, Humphrey? I don't know what's worse: that my boyfriend won't tell me anything about his life and just lied to my face, or that it sounds like he's with me at his mom's insistence."

"I'm sure you misinterpreted that," Dan said sympathetically, trying to imagine any family insisting that their 17-year old son give his girlfriend an engagement ring for a business deal.

"I don't know what to think," Blair said sadly. "I try so hard, and it seems like nothing works anymore."

Not knowing what to do, Dan instinctively drew Blair into a loose embrace. To his surprise, she crumpled into his arms, pressing her face into his shirt as she cried in earnest.

He gently rubbed her back with one hand and wiped tears away from her face with the other hand after she moved her face from his chest to look at him. "I'm sure Nate cares about you; he's just going through a lot," Dan said comfortingly.

"I just want him to let me in so that I can help," Blair said. "Does it make me a bad person that I'm so upset when I know he's going through so much?"

"No, it doesn't," Dan said decisively. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to help the people you love."

"Thank you," Blair said sincerely, and they held each other's gaze for a moment. Without thinking, Dan leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered into her ear.

He held her gaze for another moment, unable to look away. He was still holding her body close to his, and he was suddenly aware of their proximity. He sucked in a breath, fighting the urge to pull her even closer. He sometimes hated being a 17-year old male with the hormonal urges that went along with it. That was the only thing that could explain how he was suddenly so drawn to Blair Waldorf, his girlfriend's best friend.

Dan finally broke their eye contact and slowly extricated himself from the embrace. "We should probably go deal with our parents," Dan said. Blair continued to look sad as they walked toward the taxi queue.

"Look on the bright side," Dan said teasingly, "at least our parents are better than Nate's. Is Nate's mom always that intense?"

This earned Dan a small laugh and smile. "Let me put it this way: Ann Archibald makes Lily van der Woodson seem warm and affectionate by comparison. "

"Ouch," Dan said. "Poor Nate."

Blair shrugged. "She's a Vanderbilt. Nate gets a lot of privileges because of it."

"I'm not sure I'd take the tradeoff," Dan said.

"I imagine you wouldn't," Blair said. "Maybe you should go home and tell your mom that you're thankful she's not Ann Archibald."

"Maybe you should do the same," Dan said.

"If I had a drink, I'd offer up a toast to setting the bar low," Blair said.

Dan laughed and Blair smiled back. "I would drink to that. You know, if I had one."

Just then, a cab pulled up. Dan opened the door for her and leaned in after Blair settled into her seat. "Are you going to be okay?"

Blair nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I think my mom and I need to clear the air a bit now that I'm calmer and have a bit of perspective."

Dan looked at her closely and decided she was telling the truth. "Happy Thanksgiving," he said warmly as he closed the door. He gave the door a light slap. "See you later, Waldorf," he said as the cab drove off.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews and Favorite Story tagging. I haven't had time to respond individually like I'd like, but I really appreciate it. People taking the time to review really does push me to update, even when I'm inclined to slack a bit. As far as the story goes, we have about two chapters to go before we venture into some serious AU territory, as the whole canon slate is almost wiped clean fairly soon. It's been a lot harder than I ever imagined trying to write this episode by episode AU, so I'm thrilled that people seem to be enjoying the ride. Let me know what you think!**_

Dan walked down the street, only half listening as his sister waxed poetic about Cotillion. Dan found the practice archaic, and he was grateful that Serena seemed to agree with him on the subject. He had found himself enjoying certain UES functions more than he had thought he would, but in no way could he imagine himself stepping foot into Cotillion, let alone being Serena van der Woodson's escort as she is "presented" to high society for the first time, as though Serena hadn't been well-known in such circles since she was in middle school.

Dan was much more concerned about meeting Serena's grandmother. He still felt ill at ease with her mother, and he couldn't imagine that Lily didn't come by her coldness naturally. He often pondered how Serena had seemingly become the opposite of her mother. Maybe the answer lied with her grandmother, but Dan had his doubts.

When they entered the rehearsal room, Jenny's eyes lit up excitedly. Dan took in his surroundings, noting the strange clothing and even stranger dance rituals going on around him. It was like being in some surreal version of school: the same people were there who still didn't acknowledge his existence, but they were all doing it in costume moving in a foreign rhythm.

Lily came over and greeted them, more warmly than usual. She seemed preoccupied initially, but her mood seemed to shift when she noticed Jenny's excitement. Jenny's whole countenance lit up when Lily suggested that Jenny volunteer to work at Cotillion. Jenny immediately ran over to talk to Blair, who was wearing the brightest pair of red tights Dan had ever seen. As Jenny screeched over, Blair looked their way and Dan gave her a slight wave when he caught her eye. She gave him a small nod and smile in return.

Serena immediately began talking excitedly about her grandmother. When the woman in question appeared, Lily made a hasty exit. Serena was so happy to see her grandmother that she was almost jumping up and down. Lily's quick exit unnerved him, as he knew it took a lot to scare Lily van der Woodson away. Serena's grandmother made some joke about the lack of a bar before turning her attention to him.

Dan politely introduced himself to Serena's grandmother, hoping his nervousness wasn't in evidence.

The older woman narrowed her eyes at him and, in lieu of a greeting, said, "My granddaughter told me that you were _delighted_ when she decided not to make her debut this weekend?"

Dan wasn't quite sure how to respond. Serena just smiled and grabbed his arm, encouraging him, "Go ahead and tell her what you think. Grandma loves honesty."

Dan took a deep breath, giving the same speech about Cotillion that he had given Serena. He felt himself ramble a bit about it being antiquated and a thing of the past, as Serena beamed at him proudly. He felt a bit on display, and he was feeling increasingly uncomfortable under her grandmother's scrutiny.

Serena's grandmother did not seem to be buying his argument. "Cotillion teaches the good graces that a young woman should always have in her arsenal," the older woman rebutted.

Dan put his arm around Serena, drawing her closer. "I think Serena's graces are pretty spectacular," Dan said.

"Oh, Grandma, you haven't had to use your graces in a long time," Serena giggled. Her grandmother walked away to join Lily, and Serena beamed at him.

"Isn't she great?" Serena asked him.

"Oh, she's something," Dan said in return, wondering how Serena had failed to pick up on the nervous tension surrounding him and her grandmother.

When Dan got home from the rehearsal, Jenny was on cloud nine.

"Guess what?" she asked the second he closed the door.

"What?" Dan asked, knowing it likely had something to do with Cotillion.

"I am going to be working at the Cotillion! I talked to Blair, and they do need people, especially those with my sewing abilities," Jenny said dreamily. "It's going to be amazing. I can't wait to see everyone's dresses."

"That's great, Jen," Dan said with as much warmth as he could muster. He was trying hard not to continually rain on his sister's parade when she got excited about various society events.

"I can't believe Serena's not going to make her debut because of you," Jenny said.

"I didn't talk Serena into anything," Dan protested.

"Whatever," Jenny said. "You just made sure she knew you thought Cotillion was ridiculous, so she would feel bad if she said she wanted to go."

"Like I have that much influence over Serena," Dan scoffed.

"You're her _boyfriend_," Jenny said as though she were speaking to an infant. "Did you think she would make her debut with someone else as her escort?"

Dan shrugged. "She never once told me she wanted to go. I think you're just projecting."

"No girl would want to miss Cotillion," Jenny said, clearly questioning how they could be related.

Their conversation was interrupted by Dan's phone ringing. "Hey Serena," Dan said as he walked out of the living room into his bedroom.

"Hey," Serena said tentatively in return.

"What's up? Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Serena sighed. "My mom is making me go to Cotillion. It's really unfair."

"That sucks," Dan said. "So there's no getting out of it?"

"No, she's just trying to impress my grandma," Serena said in a pouting voice. "My grandma even has an escort lined up for me since you don't want to go."

Dan took a deep breath, already knowing he was going to regret his next words. "Do you want me to come?"

"Would you? I know you hate everything about Cotillion," Serena said, her voice already sounding more chipper.

Dan tried to put on a brave front. "Well, you'd be there. I like you," Dan said.

"Aw, you're so sweet," Serena said.

Dan smiled into the phone. "The food should be good too, right?

"Yes, my mother and Blair arranged for the food. It will be great," Serena giggled.

"Well, then I'm in, I guess," Dan said.

"Thank you, I'll make it up to you," Serena said with a strange mixture of sweetness and suggestiveness.

"You'd better," Dan laughed.

"Oh, speaking of things I'll make up to you, don't forget about the tea for my grandmother at the Waldorfs' tomorrow," Serena said hurriedly. "See you there at 2! Goodnight!"

Dan stared at the phone, hating his life at that moment. His phone rang immediately afterwards. _Blair_. Of course.

"Hi, Blair," Dan sighed. "I take it you just found out I'm going to Cotillion?"

"Yes, Humphrey. Good news does indeed travel fast."

"What do you want, Blair?" Dan asked exasperatedly. While he slowly seeing a different side to Blair, he knew she wasn't calling to be friendly.

"You missed rehearsal," Blair said. "Ordinarily, as head deb, I would exclude anyone who missed rehearsal or hadn't previously escorted a deb before."

"But because you like me so much, you're willing to make an exception?" Dan said mockingly.

"Because you're escorting _Serena _I'm willing to make an exception," Blair said. "The tux I sent you for the masked ball should be suitable. Serena's dress is gold. I will give you the appropriate tie at the tea tomorrow."

"Is that it?" Dan asked. "No words of wisdom?"

"It's too late for anything to be done with your hair," Blair sighed. "Just call Nate and have him go over the details of where you need to be and what is expected of you. I'm too busy to walk you through it right now."

With that, Dan was abruptly met with silence on the other end of the line. Dan sighed and dialed Nate. He wondered if he had ever talked to so many people on the phone in one night.

"Hey man, what's up?" Nate greeted him warmly.

"Not much," Dan said. "Except I am apparently going to Cotillion."

Nate laughed. "You'll be okay," Nate said. "All you have to do is look nice and dance in circles."

"It's easy for you say," Dan grumbled. "You probably have been doing a waltz since you were in diapers."

"That's not far from the truth," Nate admitted. "It's really not that hard."

"Could you help me?" Dan blurted out.

"Help you what? Learn to dance?" Nate asked, confused. "You do realize that I'm a guy, right?"

"Yes, I realize you're a guy," Dan said. "Have you not seen _Footloose_?"

"Like the musical?" Nate asked.

Dan sighed. "I'm really going to have to educate you on 80s pop culture at some point."

"Dude, I'm just messing with you," Nate laughed. "I have actually seen _Footloose._"

"But I take it you don't find my _Footloose_ argument compelling," Dan said disappointedly.

"You really should be talking to Blair," Nate said. "She'll do anything to make sure Cotillion goes well."

"I just talked to Blair," Dan said. "She told me to call you." Dan knew he was almost whining at this point.

"Let me tell you a secret," Nate said conspiratorially. "Underneath it all, there's nothing Blair loves more than to help someone she cares about."

"That's not too helpful for me, man," Dan complained. "I think I just got upgraded to 'tolerable'."

"While I think you're beginning to grow on her," Nate said, "I was actually referring to Serena."

"I guess it's worth a try," Dan sighed.

An hour later, Dan found himself entering the Waldorf's penthouse. He still wasn't completely sure how he had gone from not attending the ball to awaiting dance lessons from Blair Waldorf. It had definitely been a strange day.

"Humphrey," Blair said in greeting as she entered the foyer. "I see you wore your tux as requested so we can have an appropriate dress rehearsal."

"I knew better than to disobey orders," Dan said.

"I have your tie as well," Blair said. "Stand still."

Dan again did as asked, standing as still as he could as Blair tied the gold bow tie. He felt his heart rate pick up due to her proximity, and he tried to concentrate on taking in his surroundings, anything to avoid focusing on Blair as she stood mere inches from him.

"Done," Blair said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. Dan felt himself relax when she backed away.

"Do I pass inspection?" Dan teased, doing a brief twirl so she could see his entire ensemble front and back.

Blair rolled her eyes. "You clean up reasonably well," Blair said. "That's just half the battle."

"Nate said if anyone could teach me to dance, it was you," Dan said.

"I have complete faith in my talents, Humphrey," Blair said. "It's yours I'm concerned with."

"The sooner we start, the sooner I leave," Dan reminded her.

Blair walked across the room and fiddled with some sort of sound system which was built into the wall. Dan heard some orchestral music begin playing.

Blair approached and gave him an appraising look, apparently not sure where to begin. Dan reached for her hand and pulled it to his mouth, pressing a light kiss on top of her hand then releasing it. Blair raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought that was how a gentleman began a dance," Dan explained. "I figured if I was going to participate in something archaic, I might as well act the part."

"We're not reenacting _The Age of Innocence_, Humphrey. Cotillion might be something of an anachronism, but we're not actually time traveling to a simpler time," Blair said. "Just put your right arm just below my shoulder blade." She grabbed his hand and placed it where she wanted it. "Then place your left hand in my right hand."

Dan did as told and just stared at her, awaiting further instruction.

"Now, we move," Blair said as she called out steps and counts. He tried to follow her lead with limited success at first, but slowly he started to get into the flow of the music and Blair's rhythm. In a surprisingly short amount of time, they were effortlessly gliding in an easy rhythm.

"I must be an amazing teacher," Blair said. "You're actually not terrible at this."

"You are an excellent teacher," Dan agreed. He leaned in so his mouth was at her ear. "Thank you."

"Serena doesn't need you embarrassing her with her grandmother in attendance," Blair said dismissively.

"Of course not," Dan said.

They danced for a few moments in silence, leaving Dan to contemplate.

"Maybe I was quick to judge when it comes to Cotillion," Dan said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps you're just quick to judge," Blair said, her voice taking on a teasing lilt.

"I've considered that possibility," Dan admitted. "But as far as Cotillion goes, while I still think it's archaic, maybe there's some validity in holding on to traditional courting rituals in some form or another."

"I bet you wish you lived in a Jane Austen novel," Blair said. "You could write Serena long, poetic letters and woo her with a kiss on the hand. It would be much more romantic than trying to hook up in Brooklyn during the 20 minutes your apartment is empty."

"With your handmaidens and birthday traditions, not to mention being head deb at this ball, you can't tell me that there's not a part of you that would like to just be wooed with long walks, poetry and requests to be on your dance card."

"Yes, there's a part of me that would love the romance of that," Blair said. "However, I would hate to replace the actual sex with hand kisses and waltzes. But you wouldn't know anything about that, of course."

"All in due time," Dan said calmly as they continued to dance in perfect rhythm. "For now, I just hope that Serena and I dance as well together as you and I do."

"She does have larger feet, so be careful," Blair joked.

"Honestly, thank you again," Dan said. "I owe you."

"You do owe me," Blair said. "But thank you for listening on Thanksgiving."

"Anytime, Waldorf," Dan smiled. They continued to dance for a few moments, ignoring the fact that Dan hadn't needed any instruction for at least the past ten minutes.

They were interrupted by a flash of light and a teasing voice. "I told you that Blair would be a better teacher than me," Nate said as he entered the room and help up his camera. "I had to take a picture should I need to blackmail Blair at some point."

"The things I do for Serena," Blair pouted as she stepped away from Dan. "I think you're as good as you'll ever be. Now run along."

Dan chuckled. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Dan said. "Goodnight."

"'See you tomorrow," Nate said cheerfully.

Dan headed toward the elevator, then stopped and turned around.

"I know you've already done me a big favor, but could I ask for another from both of you?" Dan asked.

"You're really pushing your luck, Humphrey," Blair said with a glare.

"What do you need, man?" Nate asked, ignoring Blair.

"Could you be my buffers if Serena's grandmother gets me alone? That woman scares me," Dan said sheepishly.

"Cece?" Blair scoffed. "You're such a wuss."

"I might be a wuss," Dan said. "But it doesn't mean that she's not terrifying."

"Fine," Blair sighed. "Nate and I will protect you from Serena's drunk old grandma."

"Thank you," Dan said sincerely before saying his goodbyes and leaving.

The next day, Dan was back at the Waldorf penthouse. While it had seemed almost surreal to take private dance lessons from Blair Waldorf, today was almost too real. He was sitting on the couch at the tea party, feeling as uncomfortable as he'd ever felt. Serena's grandmother, along with virtually everyone else, was fawning over Carter Baizen and his travels. Apparently, he went pheasant hunting with the sheik when he was in Dubai. Dan felt so awkward that he seemed to have even forgotten how to drink tea.

He excused himself and went into the restroom, more to compose himself than anything else. As he exited, he was greeted by Cece.

"Do you like it here, Mr. Humphrey?" Cece asked him coldy.

Dan heard himself nervously make some lame joke about the washer pressure, and looked around for reinforcements. None were to be found.

""That's not what I meant. But of course you would make a joke, that goes to my point. The way you feel? It never goes away. It just gets worse," Cece said, in a tone that indicated she was just getting started. "You'll always use your dessert fork for your entrée. You'll always feel underdressed, no matter what you wear, and at dinner parties, it will be as if there's a language that sounds like English, and you think you speak it, but they don't...hear you. And you don't understand them. As time passes, you'll feel that people never see you, when they look at you, but wonder merely whether you're Serena's whim, or her charity case, until the day comes when you realize that girls like Serena don't end up with _Dan Humphrey_. They end up with the Carters of the world, and people like you, they turn into cocktail party anecdotes of their foolish youth. So why don't you give it up and spare yourself the pain, hmm? I'm sure Serena will understand."

Dan had no time to take in this speech before Blair appeared at his side. "Cece, I always forget how _funny_ you are. You should really tell Serena about how you almost scared her boyfriend to death like this," Blair said. "All kidding aside, I do want to assure you that I have personally seen to it that Dan will be impeccably dressed and will make your granddaughter shine on the dance floor, not that she needs Dan for that."

"There you are!" Serena said cheerfully as she approached the group. "What's going on?"

"Your grandma was just messing with Dan, and he totally bought it," Blair said with a laugh.

"Your Daniel is very gullible," Cece said, shooting Blair an inscrutable look.

"Oh, Grandma," Serena said fondly. "Let's sit back down. It sounds like you need more gin."

Dan turned to Blair. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything," she said.

"Is that what you and Nate and everyone else think of me?" Dan asked. "That a year from now you'll be laughing over your bellinis about me at brunch?"

"It really doesn't matter," Blair said. "What's important is that Serena doesn't see you that way."

"So, why did you brush it all off as a joke?" Dan asked, genuinely curious.

"Because I knew you were eventually going to march over to Serena and tell her everything, forcing her to choose," Blair said. "It would not end well for you."

"So, maybe deep down you do approve of me," Dan said with a smile.

"No, I just don't like wasting entire evenings teaching people to dance who get themselves uninvited to Cotillion," Blair smirked.

Dan chuckled and wandered off to find Serena.

When Dan arrived home, Jenny was already dressed and ready to go.

"Jen, you know we don't need to leave for an hour, right?" Dan asked amusedly.

"I know. I'm just really excited," Jenny said. "I also couldn't wait to put on the dress that Lily bought me. She's really nice, isn't she?"

"Uh, sure," Dan said noncommittally. Lily had seemed a lot warmer to him the previous day. Maybe he had grown on Lily as well as Blair.

"Anyhow, hurry up and change! I need to be there early," Jenny prodded as she gave him a slight push.

"Okay, okay," Dan laughed.

Dan was nearly dressed when his father entered the room, looking anxiously at him.

"Tux looks great. Shoes look great. You look so great! You're gonna make me proud. Show that Celia Rhodes what us Humphrey men are made of!" his father told him.

Dan gave his dad a strange look. "How do you know about Celia Rhodes?" Dan asked.

His dad hesitated briefly before answering. "Jenny told me about Serena's grandmother going to the ball," he explained. "There was a mention in the society pages too."

"You and mom read the society pages a lot more than I ever imagined," Dan said.

"Just knock 'em dead tonight, okay?" his dad said. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but no words came out.

"Okay," Dan said carefully. "You're acting really strange, more than usual, but I need to go so I'm just going to ignore it."

"Dan, are you ready yet?" Jenny whined from the living room.

"And that is my cue to leave," Dan laughed, giving his father a quick wave before he left the room.

When Dan and Jenny arrived at the ball, Dan immediately looked for Serena. Before he caught a glimpse of Serena, Blair had already found them.

"Humphrey," Blair said as she gave him an appraising look. "You look acceptable."

"Don't make me blush," Dan said sarcastically. "But thank you. I owe it all to my stylist."

"And my charity is done for the year," Blair said before turning to Jenny. "Jenny, go find Lily. You need to be at her side, ready to act should Lily need anything. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, Blair," Jenny said eagerly, here eyes searching the room for Lily. "Thank you for letting me help."

"There's Lily," Blair said. "Do as I ask and you may get to help at future events."

Dan shook his head as Jenny went dashing off after Lily. "Is that really necessary?" Dan asked.

"What?" Blair asked, looking genuinely puzzled.

"Treating my sister like she's a servant," Dan said.

Blair rolled her eyes. "She's a _freshman_,"Blair said. "She wouldn't even be invited if I didn't think she had the potential to move up the ranks someday, even with her rather humble origins."

"But still," Dan protested.

"You really need to take this up with your sister," Blair said. "I'm not forcing her into anything she doesn't want to do."

Dan sighed. "I know. I just wish sometimes she didn't want it so badly," he said. "I just fear she's in for a big fall."

"Stop worrying," Blair said. "Your sister will be fine. Let me tell you a secret: she kind of reminds me of myself at that age."

Dan groaned. "Don't tell me that," Dan said teasingly.

Blair shrugged. "What can I say? Game recognizes game," she said with a smile.

Dan chuckled, then realized he'd been there nearly 15 minutes and still hadn't spoken with Serena.

"I guess I'd better find Serena," Dan said. "Have you seen her?"

"I think she's up on the stairs, getting in place. I probably should head up there as well," Blair said.

They walked together to find Serena, who was chatting with Kati and Iz. Serena beamed and hugged him enthusiastically when she saw him.

"You're here!" Serena said. She pulled back and looked at him. "You look really nice."

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan could see Kati and Iz share a look which indicated what they thought of his appearance.

"You can thank Blair for that," Dan said.

"The suit does make the man in this case," Blair agreed.

"I'm happy to see you two getting along," Serena said. "Sort of."

Jenny approached them tentatively, asking Serena a question about her presentation statement. Serena read the statement out loud, which involved such plans as volunteering for the Junior League.

"That's not my statement," Serena sighed.

"Yeah, you sound like me," Blair smirked.

"It's all part of the charade, isn't it?" Dan asked with a shrug. He figured the key to these events was to not take anything seriously.

"I thought you of all people would understand," Serena said. "I told my mom if I was going to do this, I wanted it to be my way. And now she's backtracking."

"Well, you're here with me," Dan reasoned. "That's probably not what anyone wanted."

"He's got a point, S," Blair said.

Dan had an idea. "Let me see the card," he said with a sly grin as he pulled a pen from his pocket.

Dan and Serena shared a laugh when Serena's future plans were announced. "Serena plans to travel the country, working as a groupie during Lincoln Hawk's reunion tour..."

Dan smiled broadly as they walked by Cece. He noted that Lily almost looked amused, and also had a strangely wistful expression on her face.

Out on the dance floor, Dan mockingly bowed at Serena and grabbed her hand. "M'lady, may I have this dance?" he asked with a smile.

Serena grinned back at him. "Of course," she said.

Almost as soon as they started dancing, Dan stepped on Serena's foot. Dan blushed. "I'm sorry," he said. "Blair did point out that your feet were bigger than hers. I should have taken that into account."

"It's okay," Serena laughed. "Better me than her. If you'd stepped on Blair's feet you probably wouldn't be here right now."

"This is true," Dan said with a wistful smile as he remembered how easily he and Blair moved together. He shook off the memory and turned his attention back to Serena. "So, how does it feel to have officially entered high society?"

"Strangely liberating," Serena said. "I think it's because of you. I think you're good for me."

"Thanks," Dan said. "Look what you've done for me. My appearance tonight was actually deemed 'acceptable' by Blair Waldorf. I've come a long way."

Dan and Serena danced for awhile, just enjoying each other's company. When they walked off the dance floor, Nate asked them if they wanted to go grab drinks with him and Blair. As the four of them walked into the lobby, Dan felt Serena nudge him.

"Look up there," she said, pointing. "Is that my mom and your dad?"

Sure enough, Dan saw his father and Lily standing on the overhang, seemingly deep in conversation. It seemed odd, but he wasn't really sure what to make of it. Dan just figured his dad was furthering his parents' weirdness about Serena's family by getting to know Serena's mom.

"I guess my dad must be here to see Jenny home," Dan said with a shrug. "Maybe your mom is mad about the whole Lincoln Hawk thing."

"Are you guys coming or are you going to be weird and stare upstairs all night?" Nate asked jovially.

"No, we're coming," Dan said as he grabbed Serena's hand. "I'm pretty sure Blair told me that my tux will turn back into my Clash t-shirt at midnight, so we'd better get a move on."

"Shut up, Humphrey," Blair said before slapping him with her handbag. Nate and Serena laughed as the four of them ventured into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note: Thanks for all the great reviews! It keeps me going to know people are enjoying it. I'm making a concerted effort to respond to all reviews, so keep them coming! This chapter is a game changer, folks. I hope you enjoy, as we're really beginning to head into AU territory after this. _

"We're getting really close to Christmas, and there's no still no snow," Dan said with a sigh. It was already going to be his first Christmas divided between two parents, the least the universe could do is give him snow.

Jenny rolled her eyes at him. "You really need to stop whining about that and worry about things within your control," she said.

"Like what exactly?" Dan asked.

"Like what you're going to get Serena for Christmas," Jenny said, rolling her eyes again. "I'm sure she's used to getting amazing gifts...I wonder what she'll get you. I bet it will be something really expensive."

Alarmingly, even though Christmas was only a couple of days away, he hadn't given any thought to buying Serena a gift. They actually hadn't talked much about the holidays in general, with Dan largely avoiding the subject because it brought up family issues he really didn't feel like talking about. He had a feeling the holidays had similar connotations for Serena.

Dan felt a momentary panic thinking about what Serena might buy him. He really did not feel comfortable receiving any sort of lavish gift, especially when he was not in position to reciprocate.

"I need to call Serena," Dan said distractedly as he went into his room. He was pretty sure he saw his sister smirking at him in the corner of his eye.

"Hey," Serena said warmly when she picked up.

"Hey," Dan said, feeling stressed and not sure where to start. "So, uh, we haven't really talked about Christmas."

"What do you mean? I know you're spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with your dad, then going to Hudson until New Year's Eve," Serena replied.

"Well, I don't want to be presumptuous or anything, because I'm totally not expecting that you are going to get me anything or have gotten me something, but I wanted to make sure we're on the same page regarding gifts," Dan said in a rush.

"You don't have to get me anything," Serena said. "I know this is a weird Christmas for you. It kind of sucks for me too because we can't even have a tree in his hotel room."

"No, I want to get you something," Dan said, largely because he felt like it was the appropriate response.

"Good. I want to get you something too," Serena said sweetly.

Dan realized that he hadn't gotten to the really awkward part of this conversation yet, but he wanted to nip any problems in the bud before they started. Before he could formulate the words, Serena spoke again.

"By the way, when did you want to exchange gifts? My mom said we should invite your family to the Waldorfs' for their Christmas Eve party, so that might be a good time," Serena suggested.

"Why would your mom want to invite us to the party? Can we all be her collective date?" Dan was confused by this turn of events.

"I guess technically you'd be my date, Jenny would be Eric's, and your dad would be with my mom," Serena said, then laughed. "That's really weird to even say, though it's not like it's really a date."

"Of course not," Dan said quickly. Dan shuddered at the mere suggestion.

"So, what are you going to get me for Christmas?" Serena asked in a sing song voice.

"You'll just have to find out at Blair's," he said, trying to sound more coy than clueless. "Um, I am again threatening to sound presumptuous, but I think we need to set a spending limit."

There was silence on the other end.

"I'm sorry, is that a problem?" Dan asked. "I know it's the thought that counts and all that, but I would feel terrible if you bought me a Rolex and I gave you a hand made oven mitt or something."

"Do you know how to knit?"

"No, that was probably a bad example," Dan laughed. "But the point remains that I suspect our Christmas budgets are wildly different."

"Okay," Serena said, sounding like she was accepting a challenge. "How about fifty bucks?"

"Sounds good," Dan said. "I will see you at the Waldorfs', bearing gifts, or at least _a_ gift."

Serena laughed as she hung up. Dan had no clue what he was going to get her. He emerged from his room to find Jenny looking at him expectantly.

"So, we're going to have to do some shopping, aren't we?" Jenny asked.

"Looks that way," Dan said resignedly.

Two hours after Dan and Jenny hit the streets, they were no closer to finding a present. They had stopped for coffee and decided to browse the internet for ideas when Dan's phone rang.

"Merry Christmas, Blair," Dan said in greeting.

"Cabbage Patch, it is not a Merry Christmas at all right now," Blair said, clearly annoyed at him. "I am supposed to be spending time with my father, but instead I am stuck trying to help Serena come up with something that costs less than $50 because of your lame pride."

"So how's your dad?" Dan asked.

"He's...good. He also brought his gay lover without telling us, but that's neither here nor there," Blair said. Dan made a sympathetic face which Blair of course couldn't see. "You're not going to distract me with idyl chit chat, though nice try."

"What do you want Blair? I'm not increasing the limit," he told her.

"I don't care. Just tell me what you want, and I will convince Serena somehow that it was her idea," Blair said.

"That's no fun," Dan said. "I've been shopping for two hours trying to get Serena's gift. If it's the thought that counts, the thought doesn't count for much if I have to provide it."

"I've never believed that it's the thought that counts," Blair said tersely. "But I suppose it's a cliché that poor people have to rely on."

"You do know if I was actually poor that 50 dollars would be a lot of money for a gift," Dan said.

"Humphrey, are you going to tell me what you want or not?" Blair asked.

"No," Dan said with a laugh. "I want to find out what Serena would pick out for me."

"Fine," Blair said. "Just don't get your hopes up. Earlier she wanted to give you a white Christmas, but I reminded her that would require a trip to the mountains."

Suddenly, something clicked in Dan's mind and he knew what he was going to get Serena. "Thanks, Blair. You've been a big help," Dan said as he hung up, knowing the abrupt end to the conversation would just piss Blair off.

That evening, Dan had two presents wrapped and ready to take to the party. One was his gift for Serena, and another was for Blair. Similar to her birthday party, he wasn't sure if proper decorum dictated that he bring a gift for the hostess. He figured it was always better to err on the side of gifts.

They were meeting at the van der Woodsons' before they would all go to the Waldorf's together. Dan wasn't sure why they didn't just meet at the party. He also wasn't sure why his father looked so anxious sitting in the front seat of the cab.

"Dad, are you okay?" Dan asked. "Really, I can tell you from experience these parties are never quite as terrifying as you think."

"I'm not worried about the party," his father said. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Are you missing mom?" Jenny asked sympathetically. "I miss her too. It doesn't seem like Christmas without us all together."

"Uh, yeah," their dad said. "The holidays are hard with all the changes in our lives."

Dan looked at his father skeptically, but decided to table the subject for the time being.

When they arrived at the hotel, the doorman told them the van der Woodsons were expecting them and they could go on up. Dan was curious why they didn't just come down and meet them, but he decided it must mean that Serena or Lily wasn't ready yet. When they entered the living room, the whole family was sitting there waiting for them. Serena stood up and gave him a hug, leading him to sit next to her on the couch. Jenny and Eric sat together on the loveseat. His father stood awkwardly for a few moments, as though he didn't know where he belonged.

"We're so glad you could make it," Lily said. "We thought we'd sit and have a drink here first before we went to the party. We can have a little Christmas toast."

There appeared to be a choice of champagne or egg nog. Dan wasn't sure if his dad would let Jenny have a drink, but he seemed preoccupied as he walked over to sit in a chair on the other side of Lily. Dan wasn't sure if the eggnog was spiked, so he went for the champagne. He was feeling anxious, and he wasn't quite sure why.

They all sat down with their drinks in silence for a few moments. Finally, Lily broke the ice.

"Rufus and I wanted to talk to you kids about something," Lily said cautiously.

"What would you guys want to talk to us about?" Dan asked, confused.

He felt Serena tense, and then watched her eyes get wide. "Mom, no," she said with a gasp.

"What?" Dan asked, then he saw a look of recognition on Eric's face.

"Seriously?" Eric asked.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked worriedly. "Dad?"

All the pieces came together and hit Dan like a ton of bricks. "Jen, they're...together."

Serena stood up and refilled her champagne glass. "So when's the wedding?"

"Serena, don't jump to conclusions," Lily said. Dan noted that his father had still not spoken a word.

"When you tell us about someone, there is always a wedding within six months," Serena said.

"That is not true," Lily said patronizingly. "Please try and be mature about this."

"Mom, you're dating her boyfriend's father," Eric said. "Doesn't she have the right to be upset?"

"Serena keeps wanting me to treat her like an adult, so I would expect that she act like one," Lily said.

"You're being selfish, and you're telling me to act more mature! Of all the men in the world, you pick my boyfriend's father. Why did it have to be him?" Tears started to fill Serena's eyes. "You've even stunned Dan speechless."

Dan looked sheepishly at the ground. He was indeed stunned speechless by the news. He couldn't even begin to process what this meant as far as he and Serena were concerned.

"Dad, say something. Is this all true?" Jenny asked desperately, the tears freely falling.

Their father exchanged a look with Lily, then looked Jenny in the eyes. "Yes, it's true, but there's an explanation," he said.

"How long has this been going on?" Dan asked, finally finding the power of speech again. "We kept blaming Mom for having an affair, and you let us. I have a feeling that this didn't start after Thanksgiving, or it would be pretty whirlwind to already be telling us."

"Lil and I were together before any of you guys were born," his father explained. "When you and Serena got together, we reconnected because of you, but we didn't start dating again until after Thanksgiving."

"So, Serena and I brought you two together?" Dan said, then an alarming thought raced through his head. "God, none of us are related are we?"

"Just you and Jenny, and Serena and Eric," Lily said. "Don't be ridiculous, Daniel. We'd never keep that from you and Serena."

"Of course not," Serena scoffed. "They would never keep anything that important from us."

"Serena, I've heard enough from you," Lily said. "There's no wedding on the horizon. Rufus and I discussed it, and we are going to let you and Daniel continue to see each other."

"That's really generous of you, Mom," Serena said. "So, when there is a wedding, then what? Are Dan and I going to share a room?"

"Serena, you and Dan might not be together if and when there's a wedding," Lily said.

Serena looked like she'd been struck.

Lily sighed. "I just meant..." she started.

Serena grabbed Dan's hand to pull him off the couch. Dan watched Serena's face harden , suddenly looking more determined than crestfallen. "Dan, we'd better get to the party," Serena said calmly. "Blair's probably wondering about us."

"Okay," Dan managed, still not sure how to handle the situation. While it was a heightened circumstance, it was apparent that Serena had been around for this dog and pony show with her mother several times before.

"See you all later," Dan said awkwardly as Serena dragged him out the door without a word to anyone else.

The instant they stepped into the elevator, Serena broke down crying. Dan pulled her in his arms, gently rubbing her back.

"Why is she so selfish?" Serena sniffed into his shirt.

"I don't know what to say," Dan said. "I do have a suggestion though."

"What's that?" Serena asked, wiping away tears and looking up at him.

"I think we need to go to the party, exchange our gifts, and try to have fun with each other tonight," Dan said. "I refuse to let this ruin Christmas for me, though I will say I am beginning to question my dad's sense of timing. Thanksgiving is now connected with my parents' divorce, and then he announces on Christmas Eve that he's dating my girlfriend's mother. I don't even want to contemplate what my birthday will hold."

"Maybe we'll find out about our parents' secret lovechild," Serena laughed bitterly.

"Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me at this point," Dan said with a shudder.

They were silent during the short cab ride to Blair's. Dan wrapped an arm around Serena and she leaned into his shoulder. Dan couldn't quite read where Serena's head was, which was just as well because he wasn't really sure where his own head was.

As they rode up in the elevator, Serena noticed the bag that Dan was holding. "Is that for me?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Well, there's something for you in here," Dan said. "Also something for Blair."

"For Blair?"

Dan shrugged. "I thought if you went to someone's Christmas party that you should bring them something. Was I wrong?"

"No, that's sweet. I heard you got her a birthday present too. If I didn't know better, I'd be worried," Serena said.

"Well, it's a good thing you know better," Dan laughed. "That would be...weird, to say the least."

"I've seen you two. You don't hate each other as much as you claim," Serena smiled. "I'm glad that you're sort of friends."

"You're the only thing we have in common, so it's good that you approve," Dan said as the elevator doors opened into the penthouse. They immediately spotted the girl in question, and walked over to greet Blair.

"Merry Christmas," Serena said as she hugged Blair.

"Hey, Waldorf," Dan said.

"Humphrey," Blair nodded in return.

"So, did that model thing work out?" Serena asked.

"What?" Blair asked, looking confused then a look of recognition crossing her face. "The jury's still out."

Dan shot her a questioning look, and Serena just shrugged. Apparently this involved one of Blair's schemes. Dan had already begun to learn that it was best to just stay in the dark.

"Where's the rest of your family?" Blair asked. "I thought this was a big van der Humphrey affair tonight."

Serena and Dan both made faces upon hearing the word "affair," and looked anywhere but at each other.

"What did I say?" Blair asked, her eyes narrowing. "You two are being weirder than normal."

Before they could respond, something caught Blair's eye in the foyer. Dan followed her gaze and saw Blair's mom standing with three men. None of them looked happy.

"Uh, you guys mingle," Blair said distractedly. "There's something I need to take care of."

Dan and Serena exchanged looks, their buffer gone. "You need a drink?" Dan asked.

"Yeah," Serena said. "Just wait here."

Dan did as told, and Serena returned shortly with an entire bottle of champagne and two flutes.

"Let's go up to Blair's room so we can exchange gifts," Serena said. "It's pretty crowded down here."

Serena led him up the stairs, not looking at him. When they closed the door behind them, Serena set the champagne down and pulled his gift bag from his hands and set it down too. The next thing he knew, Serena was kissing him passionately.

"Let's say we exchange a different type of gift tonight," Serena said suggestively, pulling out of the kiss to loosen his tie.

"Serena," Dan said softly. He knew what he thought she was implying, but he couldn't really believe that's what she meant. Given the crappy night he'd had, he decided to just go with it for the moment. Serena began kissing him again, this time with a sense of desperation that hadn't been there previously. It worried him.

"Serena," Dan said, firmly this time. He took a step back, trying to put some distance between them. Dan took a moment to gather himself, not believing what he was about to say. "Our parents sleeping together is not a reason for us to have sex," Dan said gently.

Serena looked down at the ground. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry."

Dan tentatively pushed Serena's hair out of her face. "Don't be sorry," Dan said. "At least don't apologize to _me_. You might want to apologize to Blair about even thinking of deflowering me on her bed."

Serena laughed while he grinned at her. "It's a good thing you stopped. If she had walked in, she might have burned the bed while we were still in it," Serena said wryly.

Dan took a deep breath before speaking again. "I don't think this is going to work," Dan said bluntly. "At least so long as our parents are dating."

Serena looked at him sadly. "I can't believe they're doing this to us," Serena said. "So what happens if they stay together?"

"Well, I guess then we're going to always be a part of each other's lives," Dan told her. "Just not the way we might have hoped."

Serena looked at him wistfully. "You don't know my mom like I do. Our parents are going to get married, or Mom would never have told us," Serena said. "It's just a matter of time."

"If that's the case, then it's better that we end this now before it gets even harder," Dan said. "I think in a parallel universe we could love each other for years, maybe even forever. But, I guess it's good that this happened before we got to that place, even if we had already started the journey."

"It's hard now," Serena said, beginning to cry again. "I don't want to lose you."

Dan smiled softly. "You're not losing me from your life," he said sincerely. "I'll always be here for you when you need me. I do still want to be in your life, if that's okay with you."

"I'd like that," Serena sniffed. She leaned forward and kissed him softly. He kissed her back for a moment then pulled back. "Thank you," Serena told him.

"For what?"

"For showing me a good guy could care about me," Serena said. "I don't know if you'll ever know how much that meant to me."

"No, thank you, Serena," Dan said, touched. "Between my family and Van-other stuff, it's been a bad year. Being with you made my life so much less lonely."

Dan pulled her into a hug, wanting to hold on for a moment longer. He pulled back to look at her. "Uh, do you still want your Christmas present?" Dan asked.

Serena smiled through her tears. "Sure," she said. Dan extricated himself from her embrace and went to fetch her package from his bag.

When he turned around, Serena was holding out a small package she must have gotten from her purse. "Merry Christmas," he said dryly, presenting her with the box in his hand.

They both sat on Blair's bed to open their gifts. Dan unwrapped his to find a very nice, but not too nice, Cross pen.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "This will be a big improvement over the Bics I had been using."

"You're welcome," she said. "Are you ever going to show me any of what you write?"

"Probably not for awhile," Dan said. "I really don't show it to anyone."

"I'll have to sneak in your room and leaf through it after our parents are married," Serena smiled. "You know sisters can be quite nosy."

"I do know that much," Dan laughed. "Now open yours."

Serena unwrapped the box, which revealed a two-foot, fully decorated Christmas tree.

"Thank you," Serena said. "It will be nice to at least have some kind of tree."

"You're welcome," Dan said. "I hope it can help brighten this really crappy Christmas."

Serena smiled and leaned over to hug him. "Merry Christmas, Dan," she said into his ear.

"Merry Christmas, Serena," he said in return.

When they pulled away, both their eyes were misty, but no tears were falling. They were interrupted by a loud groan.

"You two better not be making out on my bed," Blair said tersely as she entered the room. She then looked more closely at the two of them, her demeanor changing. "What's going on? What did I walk in on?"

Dan saw Serena's eyes fill up again as she stood up from the bed. "I've gotta go," she said, giving Blair a quick hug. "Tell your mom thank you for having us."

Serena fled the room quickly, leaving Dan to deal with Blair's death glare.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Blair asked.

"We broke up," he sighed.

"On Christmas Eve? What is wrong with you?"

Dan shook his head at his dad's horrible timing. It was almost comical. Suddenly, Dan started to laugh.

"Are you _insane_? Why are you laughing right now?"

Dan gathered himself and smiled wryly. "I'm sorry, it's just so ridiculous it's hard not to laugh," Dan explained. "Tonight, Lily and my dad decided to announce that they're seeing each other."

Dan felt some satisfaction that he had rendered Blair speechless. "That was me two hours ago," Dan told her.

Blair shook her head. "So, I take back my earlier comment. What the hell is wrong with your dad? Who announces their divorce on Thanksgiving and that he's dating the mom of his son's girlfriend on Christmas Eve?"

"That's what I said!" Dan laughed. "You see why it's almost funny?"

"Well, I've had a pretty crappy day with my parents as well, but you keep having to one up me," Blair said, a small smile creeping up her face.

"You know, Waldorf, I will let you win the next one," he told her.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Daddy," Blair said as a man tentatively entered the room.

"I'm Harold Waldorf, Blair's dad," the man said to Dan. "Could I have a moment alone with my daughter?"

"Of course," Dan said. "I probably should head out anyhow. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Waldorf. By the way, I'm Dan Humphrey," Dan said sticking his hand out to shake the older man's hand.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Dan," Mr. Waldorf said.

"Dan," Blair said. "Why don't you go grab some food and come back in a few minutes? I have a present for you."

"Really?" Dan said, surprised. He smiled at her. "I actually have something for you as well."

"Don't get too excited, Humphrey," Blair said. "It's not even a 50 dollar gift."

Dan laughed as he exited the room. Dan realized he actually was really hungry, and he made himself a plate and ate, watching the stairs for Blair's father to emerge. When he saw Blair's father come down the stairs about 15 minutes later, Dan headed back to Blair's room and knocked tentatively before entering.

"Come in," Blair said. When Dan entered, he smiled. Blair looked happier than he'd ever seen her.

"So I take it things went well with your father?" Dan asked. "It seems we have our Christmas miracle!"

Blair laughed. "I'm spending the summer with my father and Roman in France," Blair said. "He just showed me pictures of their new home. They're decorating a room just for me."

"That sounds great," Dan said sincerely. "I wonder what my room will look like at the van der Humphrey home," Dan said wryly.

"It will probably be bigger than your current abode," Blair said. "You'll find out soon enough. Lily generally gets engaged within a month of introducing men to Serena."

"So I hear," Dan sighed.

"I'm sorry you guys broke up," Blair said.

Dan's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"It's going to be really hard on me, dealing with Serena being all mopey over you," she said.

"I'm sorry to put you through that," Dan said.

"Let me get you your present," Blair said, walking across the room and picking up a red envelope. Dan retrieved her gift from his bag.

Blair handed him the envelope, and he eyed it carefully. "Let me guess, a gift certificate to Great Clips?"

"Please," Blair said. "Your hair is in need of far more than Great Clips could provide."

Dan chuckled as he opened the envelope. Inside was a Christmas card, which he opened and then felt something fall out. He looked down to see a picture had fluttered to the floor.

"You can't even open a present right, can you?"

Dan rolled his eyes as he leaned down to pick up the picture. It was the photo that Nate had taken of the two of them. He looked closely at it, noting the peaceful smiles on their faces as they talked and danced before they were caught by Nate.

"Thank you, Blair," Dan said, not sure how much meaning to draw from the gift.

"I figured Lonely Boy probably didn't have a lot of picture with friends," Blair said.

"So we're friends?" Dan asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"I suppose," Blair said. "You're going to be Serena's stepbrother, so I'll probably be seeing you more than ever once you guys become the Brady Bunch."

"Well, I suppose it's also more convenient for me if we're friends. I'd hate for life to be uncomfortable while I'm living with my ex-girlfriend and her family," Dan said.

"Now let's see what you got me," Blair said. "I'm imagining it's some message from the proletariat."

"Just open it," Dan chided.

"_White Christmas_," Blair read from the DVD cover. "Thank you. I do love the classics."

"You're welcome," Dan said. "With you, I went with the old adage of buying a gift that's something I would want. Since all I really want is a white Christmas, I figured I could at least give it in the metaphorical sense."

"How very literary of you," Blair said.

"I try," Dan shrugged and grinned at her.

They stared at each other a moment longer. Blair's look was unreadable, but he felt there was at least a small note of affection there.

"Well, I guess I better go home and face my dad again," Dan said.

"He could still be at Lily's," Blair said.

"That's just mean," Dan told her as Blair smirked at him.

"Well, if you want to postpone the inevitable, I was thinking I'd watch the movie if you want to stay," Blair said. "I know the classics always cheer me up."

"Are you sure?" Dan asked.

Blair rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure," Blair said. "Of course, my moment of holiday charity could vanish in an instant."

"Well, then I guess I'd better stay then," Dan said. "I'd hate for your moment of holiday charity to be wasted like that."

Dan thought she would lead him to some sort of family room, but instead she opened the DVD case and placed the disc in her laptop before sitting on her bed. She patted the space beside her.

"This is of course based on the condition that you sit at least one foot away from me," Blair said.

"Of course," Dan smiled.

They sat and watched the movie in comfortable silence. Dan noticed that the more tired Blair looked, the more she edged into his space. Eventually, he felt her head hit his shoulder. Dan turned to find her sound asleep against him.

Dan felt a warm feeling spread through him as he closed his eyes, meaning to just rest them for a moment. When he woke up, the movie had long since ended and Blair was curled against his side. He took a moment to savor the feeling of contentedness before slowly extricating himself from Blair. She wasn't nearly as intimidating in her sleep. Blair didn't wake up when he moved her. He grabbed a blanket and placed it over her, gently pushing a strand of hair from her face.

On his way out, Dan looked over at her corkboard which was covered with different pictures and mementos. Dan smiled when he saw that the picture of the two of them was pinned in the right hand corner, right in the middle of other pictures of her and her friends.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's notes: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! This chapter turned into one of the hardest I've written, probably because I'm not a huge fan of 1.12. I honestly thought about completely scrapping the pool incident, with the AU world making it so it never happened. I then thought about doing something completely different with the pool incident, but I traumatized so many people with my other WIP that I decided against it. (You can probably figure out what I was going to do.) So, I ended up with this super long chapter with a whole lot happening. As a side note, I took license to decide that Blair had clearly never seen The Breakfast Club, because anyone who makes that weak NJBC analogy is not familiar with the concept of the movie. Anyhow, let me know what you think of this chapter. It's been a tough one to finish, so I could use some encouraging words. I'm fairly pleased with the result. **_

When Dan returned from visiting his mom in Hudson, he found himself staring at a week of winter break left before school started. While he enjoyed having ample time to read and write, the truth was that he was lonely. Dan contemplated how easily he had grown accustomed to being surrounded by people, with a new event always around the corner. He often found himself missing Serena. While he did miss Serena specifically, he was also finding that he missed the other social interactions that went along with being Serena's boyfriend.

After spending a morning moping around the loft, he texted Nate to see if he wanted to do something. Nate quickly texted him back that he was out of the country with Chuck. Dan sighed and moved down the list.

He knew he and Serena agreed to be friends, but he felt like it was definitely too soon after the break up to actually hang out. His dad was forcing him and Jenny to go to dinner at the van der Woodsens' on Saturday. He would get a better gauge of Serena's mood at that point.

Dan's list of potential companions was limited. Dan thought back to Christmas Eve, remembering Blair falling asleep on his shoulder. He also remembered the sight of the photo of them on her corkboard. Maybe that was a sign that she really did mean it when she said she considered him to be a friend, even though they hadn't ever really hung out without some other reason behind it.

Deciding he had nothing to lose, Dan picked up his phone and dialed Blair. At the worst, she would mock him for the call. He was used to that.

"Happy New Year, Humphrey," Blair said in greeting. "If you're calling for help with your resolutions, I have a few suggestions."

"I have no doubt that you do," Dan said. "I was just calling to see if old acquaintances were forgotten."

"Like I could ever forget you, even if I wanted to," Blair sighed.

"So you're saying you don't want to forget me?" Dan teased.

"That's a creative interpretation of my statement," Blair said.

"It actually segues nicely to the purpose of my call," Dan said. "I was thinking of going to the John Hughes retrospective that starts tonight and was wondering if you wanted to come. First up: _The Breakfast Club_."

"You've lost me. What are you rambling about?"

"You apparently have missed out on your classic teen films," Dan sighed. "'_Don't you forget about me_'," Dan quoted.

"Classic teen films is an oxymoron," Blair told him. "Both the 'classic" and 'film' parts should not be said in conjunction with cheesy teen flicks from the 80s."

"I should have figured your elitism would carry over into your taste in movies," Dan said, smiling into the phone.

"For some reason I had thought your tastes wouldn't be so plebeian," Blair said. "I guess I gave you too much credit."

"When I was about 13 and Jenny was 11, our parents started to have a date night every Friday," Dan said, smiling sadly at the memory of happier times. "Jenny and I would watch movies. She wanted to watch these horribly formulaic teen movies, and being a 13 year old boy, I just wanted to watch _Star Wars_. Finally, we compromised. I told her if we were going to watch teenage movies, then we'd watch the classics."

Dan was feeling nostalgic, which was part of why he wanted to go the retrospective. Those years seemed like ancient history now. His parents were divorcing and Jenny would rather jump off the Brooklyn Bridge than spend a Friday night watching movies with her older brother.

"Fine, I'll go with you," Blair said. "I can tell you'll be crying into your popcorn thinking of happier family times if you have to go alone."

"I appreciate your concern for my well-being," Dan said. "You won't regret it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how well John Hughes relates to the raw emotions of the teenage years."

"Whatever," Blair scoffed. "I do have some conditions."

"Of course," Dan chuckled.

For all her protests, Blair attended all three nights of the retrospective with him. On the first night, they saw _The Breakfast Club_. Blair insisted that she arrive first, and that he sit four seats away. On the second night, after she grudgingly admitted that _The Breakfast Club_ wasn't terrible, she told him he could arrive whenever he wanted for _Pretty in Pink_, but that he had to stand in line for his own ticket and at no point should he acknowledge her until they were inside the theater, sitting two seats apart. On the third night, they saw _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_. She told him to show up promptly at 6:45 pm, and that he must feign surprise at seeing her there. They sat next to one another, acting as if they had randomly run into one another at the theater.

As they left the theater on the last night, they paused outside to talk for a moment like they had the past two nights. This night had a different feeling, as it was the last night of the retrospective and school was starting back up soon. Dan felt inexplicably sad that this...whatever he had with Blair was likely coming to an end.

"Thanks, Humphrey," Blair said. "I now am more in touch with the lives of common teenagers because of you."

"Do I sense some sarcasm?" Dan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would you think that?" Blair asked coyly.

"No reason," Dan said, shaking his head.

They stood in silence on the sidewalk for a few moments, not quite ready to say goodbye but not sure what to say.

"So, what happens when we go back to school?" Dan blurted.

"What do you mean?" Blair asked, looking confused.

"We just haven't ever been openly friendly," Dan said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I wasn't sure what the public protocol was moving forward."

"Serena said she wanted you to still be in her life," Blair said. "So long as that fact remains, we can be friendly. Of course, we can't be seen together."

"Of course not," Dan agreed. "The retrospective is over, so I guess there's probably no reason we'd be out together anyhow."

Blair pondered this for a moment, and then looked down at the ground. "I suppose not," she said quietly. "I'll see you at school."

With that, Blair walked away from him and hailed a cab. Dan shook his head in confusion, not quite sure what just happened.

On Saturday, Dan, Jenny and his father piled into a cab for their dinner at the van der Woodsens'. Dan fidgeted in the cab nervously, remembering his trepidation on Christmas Eve. As it turned out, his instincts had been right back then. He had a feeling he had good reason to be nervous tonight as well. Tonight was going to the first time he'd seen Serena since their breakup, and reuniting under the guise of a family dinner made things all the more awkward. Both Jenny and his dad seemed lost in thought, so the cab ride over was largely silent.

When they entered the suite at the Palace, Lily greeted them at the door. She wrapped her arm around his dad's elbow and guided them into the dining room. Serena and Eric were already seated when they entered.

Dan paused for a moment, trying to decide where to sit. It seemed strange to sit beside Serena, as that was where he would have sat if they were still a couple. He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to sit across from her because then they'd be looking right at one another all night. However, sitting on the other side of Eric seemed too impersonal. Sensing his discomfort and indecision, Jenny rolled her eyes and sat across from Serena, yanking him into the chair next to her, which was diagonal from Serena.

"Hey Dan, Jenny," Serena said politely. "How was Hudson?"

"Good," Jenny said. "It was weird to have two Christmases."

Jenny elbowed him in the side. "Uh, yeah, Hudson was all right," Dan said. "Kind of lonely. Of course, so is the city these days."

"Everyone ready to start school on Monday?" Dan's father asked cheerfully.

"I can't wait to get back and explain that Dan and I broke up because our parents were star-crossed lovers," Serena said sullenly. "How about you Dan?"

Dan laughed bitterly. "Well, I'll probably just fade back into obscurity."

"You're too well-known on Gossip Girl for that," Jenny said. "There's already a page devoted to sightings of you looking pathetic."

"Thanks for that, Jen," Dan said, rolling his eyes at his sister.

"Can we talk about something else, please?" Lily asked. "I think we covered your teenage bitterness pretty thoroughly on Christmas Eve."

Dan sighed and tried to come up with a good topic to speak about. Dan was nervous about bringing up the first topic that popped into his head, but he was legitimately curious. "So, I may regret asking this question later, but you guys never really told us before. How exactly did you two know each other before? I can't imagine you ran in the same circles."

Dan saw Lily and his dad exchange a look. "Do you want to take this one or should I?" his father asked with a slight smirk.

"I don't know if they need to know," Lily said. "It was a long time ago."

"So you'll ruin our lives because of your relationship, but we don't need to know anything about it?" Serena asked, crossing her arms.

"Serena," Lily warned.

"It must be a good story if they're avoiding it so much," Eric said. "Spill it, Mom. You do owe us that much."

"It sounds like it must be really juicy," Jenny said, her eyes lighting up. Apparently a good piece of gossip superseded her hurt over their parents' divorce.

"It's really not that interesting," Lily sighed.

"Oh, c'mon, Lil," his father said. "Your kids will probably appreciate hearing about your misspent youth."

"Fine," Lily said huffily. "When I was a teenager, I was a big music fan and photographer. I followed several bands on tour, one of which was Lincoln Hawk."

"So you were my dad's groupie?" Jenny said excitedly.

"I don't know if I'd use the word groupie..." Lily said.

"This is just unbelievable," Serena said. "You've spent all these years lecturing me, and you spent your teenage years having sex with rock stars?"

Dan shuddered. "Serena, could you be a little less...graphic?" Dan pleaded. "What did I tell you about groupie talk?"

Serena caught his eye and he smiled at her and raised his eyebrows, trying to lighten the mood. Slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up as well.

"So, Daniel, what classes are you taking next semester?" Lily asked politely, as though nothing had happened. Serena raised a knowing eyebrow at him. Dan smiled and shook his head, turning to Lily.

"It looks pretty tough," Dan told her, allowing the conversation to switch back to lighter topics. Dan was still adjusting to people's ability to sweep things under the rug so easily.

After another half hour of polite conversation, there was a knock on the door.

"That must be Blair," Serena said, practically jumping out of her seat to answer the door. Serena returned with Blair at her side.

"Hey Waldorf," Dan said with a nod in greeting.

"Humphrey," Blair greeted him. "How are you, Jenny?"

"I'm good," Jenny beamed, happy that Blair acknowledged her. "Did you have a nice Christmas?"

Dan and Blair exchanged a brief look, then quickly looked away. "I had a very nice Christmas, thank you."

Serena wrapped her arm through Blair's. "Mom, we're going to go hang out if that's okay," Serena said. "If I don't see you all again tonight, have a nice evening."

With that Serena dragged Blair to her room. With dessert only half-eaten, Dan knew they wouldn't be making their escape quite yet. Dan sighed and dug into his cake.

When Dan finally arrived back at the loft, his phone rang. Dan looked at his phone. It was Nate.

"Hey, man," Dan said. "How was your trip?"

"It was good," Nate said. "It was nice to get away. How was your break?"

Dan laughed. "I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you," Dan said.

"Blair filled me in on the basics about you and Serena," Nate said sympathetically. "That sucks."

"That it does," Dan said. "So, what's up?"

"Almost all of the junior class is having a party at the school pool," Nate told him. "I thought you might need to live it up a bit."

"I don't know," Dan hedged. "I just got back to Brooklyn after a painful dinner at the van der Woodsens'. I might just lay low."

"You should come," Nate said encouragingly. "Don't let the family stuff bring you down."

"Thanks man, I'll try," Dan said noncommittally.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nate said. "I'll see you later."

Dan sighed. He really didn't feel like heading back the Upper East Side, but he had a feeling if he refused very many invitations that they would quickly stop coming.

When Dan arrived at the school, he felt a moment of trepidation before opening the door. He was pretty sure that this was not a school sponsored function, and that they could get in a lot of trouble for this. He was surprised there wasn't more security at the pool to be honest.

When Dan reached the pool area, he was faced with immediate sensory overload. He saw alcohol and drugs, and all of his classmates with far less clothing than he'd ever seen them in. He looked around for Nate, and he saw that Nate and Blair were chatting with Chuck at the lifeguard stand. He saw Serena talking with Kati and Iz. Not feeling comfortable approaching any of them, Dan just stayed rooted to the ground. Maybe this had been a mistake.

He quickly exited to the hallway in front of the locker rooms, trying to gather himself a bit. He really didn't belong here, especially not now. Without Serena, he really was back to being a complete outsider.

The door opened loudly, and Dan straightened up, startled. Blair walked in, glaring at him.

"What's wrong with you?" Blair asked. "I saw you survey the room and flee. Chuck is still laughing at how lame you are."

"I'd hate for Chuck to think less of me," Dan said said sarcastically.

Blair rolled her eyes. "You can go talk to Nate," Blair said. "You don't have to be afraid of Chuck."

"I'm not afraid of Chuck," Dan protested. "The only fear I have is that I'll drown him the second he opens his mouth."

"You're such a tough guy," Blair said mockingly.

"I am from the mean streets of Brooklyn," Dan said, a smile creeping across his face. He looked at Blair, and she grinned back at him. Dan took in her appearance for the first time, noting how she actually looked like a teenager with her wet hair and face devoid of makeup. He noticed some light freckles which he found strangely endearing. He tried hard not to notice how much skin she was showing in her two-piece bathing suit, even with her towel wrapped around her waist.

"Just come back to the party," Blair said exasperatedly, grabbing his arm and dragging him behind him. The second she stepped through the door, she dropped his arm. He dutifully followed behind her as she approached Chuck and Nate.

"Look what I found outside the locker room," Blair said as they approached.

"I'm glad you came," Nate said.

"Thanks," Dan said. "I'm still undecided on the subject."

"You don't have to act like everything is such a hardship on your Brooklyn sensibilities," Chuck said coldly. "It's not like anyone is forcing you to attend school with people who aren't your kind."

"Hey man, lay off," Nate told Chuck.

"Why don't you go hang out with your charity case somewhere else," Chuck said. "Brooklyn is going to scare away all the drunk, half-naked girls."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Bass," Blair smirked.

"You can run along too, Waldorf," Chuck drawled.

At that moment, there was a loud scream. Dan saw someone floating ominously in the pool, and he felt himself yell out that someone needed to call 911. Nate immediately jumped in the pool, and Dan ran over to help him when he dragged the body out of the pool, not knowing if anyone knew CPR. After that, everything else was a blur.

On Monday, they were all called into a meeting led by the Headmistress's. The Headmistress was new and appeared to mean business. After telling everyone to write a 10,000 word essay on ethics, she also informed them that she would be conducting one-on-one interviews with each student to find out who stole the key. The culprit would be expelled, and if that person didn't come forward, then everyone would be expelled. Dan drew in a nervous breath at the thought, knowing he did not do well under the pressure. He looked around the room, noting the nervous glances being exchanged all around him.

As they walked out, everyone naturally gravitated to Blair. "So we all know how this goes," Blair said. "No one talks, no one gets into trouble."

There were nods of agreement all around him. Dan felt his nerves increase, having the feeling he was the only virgin in the group in more ways than one.

"So, we all agree, no one talks," Blair declared in a cold voice. It sent a chill up Dan's spine. He'd seen this movie before. It usually ended with the Jewish kid or the unorthodox teacher taking the fall. In this case, it could very well be the scholarship kid from Brooklyn.

"C'mon Blair, I know you're going to Yale, but isn't this Skull and Bones stuff a bit much?" Dan asked, feeling both nervous and exasperated.

"Maybe," Blair told him. "But it works every time."

Blair must have noted the panicked look on his face, because Blair's face softened and she added, "Really, Humphrey, don't worry. No one's selling you out."

With that, everyone scattered. Serena hung back, awkwardly looking at the ground.

"Really, Dan, it's going to be okay," Serena said. "Headmistress Queller won't expel 2/3rds of the junior class."

"I know," Dan sighed. "I just get the impression from what Blair said that this isn't the first time something like this has happened."

"Really, you're worrying too much," Serena told him, shrugging. "No one's going to talk."

Dan smiled weakly at her before she walked away. Somehow he wasn't quite convinced. Then Dan looked at his phone, noting that he had seven voicemails. A look at his call log confirmed they were all from his dad. Rolling his eyes, he called his dad, bracing himself to be chewed out. When he got off the phone with his dad, he noticed he had a new text message from Blair. Apparently she was hosting a group essay writing party that evening. Dan sighed. He really didn't want yet another opportunity to feel like a complete outsider, but he figured not going would have an even worse effect. Anyhow, it might help spur him to write his essay if nothing else.

When he arrived at Blair's that evening, he still didn't quite know why he was there. As he walked in, he took in the surroundings. It actually seemed a lot like the pool party, only this time everyone was fully dressed.

Similar to his entrance at the pool party, Dan looked around for someone to talk to. He stood awkwardly in the corner for a moment, feeling tense. Dan glanced over at the drinks sitting on the table. He walked over and grabbed one, downing it rapidly. He grabbed a second and decided to rove. He had a feeling this night was going to require plenty of alcohol.

Dan noticed Chuck sitting in the corner, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the key that Chuck was playing with. Dan gripped his glass tighter, not believing how Chuck was treating this as a game. He quickly downed his second drink before picking up another and marching purposefully over to Chuck. Before he could get there, Blair had already swooped in and grabbed the key from Chuck.

"Why the hell do you have the key?" Dan asked. "Are you the one who broke in?"

"Whatever happened to 'Don't speak until spoken to?'" Chuck asked rhetorically. "Let me clarify something: no matter who you or your dad is sleeping with at this moment, we live in different worlds. In my world, if I'm suspended or expelled, a wing is donated in the Bass name."

Dan took a long drink and glared at Chuck. "That's ridiculous. Integrity counts for something still," Dan said, his head already foggy from the alcohol.

"If you say so, Humphrey. But what my world also offers in spades is security. Your dad may have temporarily upgraded and you may think you've changed your lot in life, but don't be fooled. If you go down, you have no security blanket," Chuck said menacingly.

"Thanks for that," Dan said. "I'm sorry Lily dumped your dad. I'm sure it was a sad time in the Bass household."

Dan saw a moment of shock cross Chuck's face. Dan smirked, knowing he scored one. Bart Bass's relationship with Lily wasn't exactly public knowledge.

"I didn't break into the pool. I just took the key to protect whoever did, including you," Chuck said. "However, you are not giving me much incentive to protect you."

"I don't need your protection, or Lily's for that matter," Dan said. "I have the truth on my side."

"Whatever you say, Humphrey," Chuck laughed. Dan wanted to punch him again, but instead opted to finish his drink. Feeling adequately buzzed, he stepped away from Chuck without another word. He decided to go find out what exactly Blair was doing with that key.

"Did you break into the pool?" Dan asked without preamble as he stepped into Blair's room.

"No, Humphrey," Blair said. "I'm just trying to protect the person who did. And before you grill me, I'm not telling you who it is."

"You do know that my entire future is on the line here, right?" Dan asked in a panic stricken voice. He had been hoping the alcohol would calm his nerves, but it seemed to be having the reverse effect.

"Are you drunk at a study session?" Blair asked, looking slightly amused.

"It's not funny," Dan said. "The situation is driving me to drink."

"Seriously, Humphrey, what is your problem?" Blair snapped.

"Well, as Chuck just kindly reminded me, I'm the one with the most to lose," Dan said. "Also, I'm pretty sure I rank pretty high as far as likelihood of being sold out."

Blair grabbed his hand. "Look at me," she ordered. He did as told.

"I know you're nervous and drunk right now," Blair said. "I know you don't know where you stand without Serena. But I can guarantee you that Serena won't let you get sold out. Neither would Nate."

Dan tilted his head. "And you?"

"I wouldn't either. When I told you that we were friends, I meant it," she said decisively, looking him straight in the eye.

"Thank you," Dan said earnestly. "I believe you."

"I don't let friends take the fall," Blair firmly as they continued to maintain eye contact. They remained that way for a long moment, neither willing to look away, Blair still holding his hand. Dan blamed the alcohol for what he did next.

Completely on instinct, Dan leaned forward and lightly kissed Blair on the lips. To his surprise, she immediately responded, deepening the kiss and wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands went to her waist, pulling her closer in. They kissed like this for several moments, neither of them escalating the kiss into something more passionate nor pulling away.

Finally, Dan slowly pulled back, the need for air overpowering everything else. He blinked several times, trying to gather his mental faculties. He silently vowed to never drink again. A few synapses reconnected in his brain, reminding him of Nate and Serena and all the other reasons this was a terrible idea.

"God, I'm so sorry," Dan said, quickly dropping his hands from her waist. Blair moved her arms from his neck and stepped back.

"It's okay," Blair said, her voice sounding distant. "You're drunk and still getting over Serena. It didn't mean anything."

There was a beat before Dan responded, "No, of course not."

"And I only kissed you back because I haven't kissed anyone besides Nate since I was 13," Blair said. "It felt different, and I was compelled to explore that momentarily. It just further convinced me I should be with Nate."

"Good," Dan said. After a brief pause, he added, "Are we still friends?"

"Of course, Humphrey. If it didn't mean anything, there's no reason it should change anything," Blair said. Dan felt relieved. He hoped that would be the case, not wanting an awkward strain between them.

"Um, I think I'm just going to head home," Dan said. "I have a feeling getting drunk and kissing my friend's girlfriend are steps backwards on my ethical journey."

"That might be a good idea," Blair agreed. "By the end of the night you could kill Chuck, and I don't want to explain the blood on the carpet to my mom."

"See you tomorrow," Dan said as he exited the room. He was barely two steps out when he ran into Chuck.

"Well, someone just got interesting," Chuck drawled.

"Whatever you say, Chuck," Dan said, brushing by him. If Chuck had seen anything, Dan figured he would have said something the second he saw Dan. This was just Chuck doing his typical Chuck Bass routine. When Chuck had no follow-up, Dan continued down the stairs and exited the apartment.

The next day at school was not a pleasant one. Everyone was still tense about the swimming pool incident, and Dan was also suffering from a mild hangover. To make matters worse, Chuck dragged him into a conversation in the quad. Dan wasn't quite sure what he'd done to deserve so many conversations with Chuck in a 24-hour span, but Dan was going try his best to never do it again.

"If it isn't my favorite Brooklynite," Chuck said snidely, patting him affectionately on the shoulder.

"What do you want this time?" Dan asked.

"Nothing. I just thought last night was really interesting, that's all," Chuck said. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Dan fidgeted a little. He really wasn't sure what game Chuck was playing. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing really," Chuck said. "Just your whole presence there was interesting. You're no longer Serena's boyfriend. Despite what you may believe, you're not friends with Nate or Blair. Really, without Serena, you're nobody. Yet for some reason, you just keep popping up where you don't belong."

"And I presume you get to decide where I belong?"

"I'm as good of a gatekeeper as anyone," Chuck shrugged.

"Is there a point to all of this? Maybe some sort of threat?"

"I don't threaten, I act," Chuck said coldly.

Just then, Dan heard his name being called over the loudspeaker. He was being summoned to the Headmistress's office.

"Sounds like you're up," Chuck said. "Good luck."

Chuck rammed his shoulder sharply into Dan as he walked past. Dan quickly forgot about Chuck as he geared himself up for what awaited him.

After he set down, the Headmistress greeted him a sharp look. She started by opening his file and reading over his achievements. Dan tried to smile at her, hoping that maybe she was starting with his accolades as a demonstration of why he wasn't under suspicion.

"However," she continued, and Dan cringed inwardly, "Lately you've been running with a different crowd and dating Serena van der Woodsen."

"Is that in my _file_?" Dan asked, perplexed.

"No, it's not," she said, shutting his file. She gave him a long look before continuing on. "I've recently received an anonymous tip that you were the one who broke into the pool. If you did, I would suggest you admit it now. I may be more lenient if you explain yourself."

"Honestly, Headmistress Queller, I have no idea who broke into the pool," Dan said. "I pride myself on my integrity, unlike many at this school. If I knew anything, I would tell you."

"Let me remind you that more than your peers, your future cannot be blemished with a black mark such as this," she told him. "Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?"

"No, I don't," Dan said firmly. 

"Then you won't mind emptying out your pockets, would you?"

"Of course not," Dan said, standing up. He reached into his blazer pockets and turned them inside out. To Dan's surprise, the key came flying out and landed on the floor. Dan stared at it in shock.

"I know how this looks..." Dan said, stunned.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Mr. Humphrey?" the Headmistress's withering glare gave Blair's a run for its money.

"I really don't know how that got there. It probably was placed there by your anonymous tipper," Dan said.

The Headmistress sighed. "If you're going to stick with denial, then I can assure you that your punishment will be severe," she said. "Come back tomorrow before school with your parents. I'll determine your fate then."

"I guess I will see you tomorrow, then" Dan said dazedly as he walked out the door.

After leaving the Headmistress's office, Dan walked over to Central Park to walk around and clear his head. He lost track of time, and before he knew it several hours had passed. He decided to head home, knowing there was no reason to prolong the inevitable. When Dan arrived home, his father was bustling around the kitchen. "What's with all the cooking?" Dan asked.

"Lily, Eric and Serena are coming over here tonight," his father said.

"We're all doing dinner together again already?" Dan asked. This was a terrible night for this. He had wanted to immediately tell his father the truth, but he decided to wait until after dinner. At that moment, the house phone rang. Dan went to pick it up, and saw it was from the school. Dan handed it to his father.

"You probably want to take this one," Dan said with a resigned sigh. Apparently getting expulsion paperwork organized required that the Headmistress work late.

While his father was still on the phone, there was a knock on the door. Jenny came out of her room, saying that she'd get it. Dan watched the van der Woodsens file in one by one.

"Hey," Serena said, not quite looking him in the eye. "How'd it go with the Headmistress today?"

"You'll likely hear all about it when my dad gets off the phone," Dan said. "But I'll go ahead and tell you: there's a decent chance I'm getting expelled tomorrow."

"What?" Serena gasped. "I don't understand."

"Well, somebody, and by somebody I mean Chuck Bass, planted the key in my pocket and told the Headmistress that I was involved in the break-in," Dan said bitterly. "Given that I'm on partial scholarship, I'm pretty sure there's no reprieve for me, especially considering the Headmistress thinks I lied to her face."

"I'm sure she's just bluffing," Serena said, looking panicked.

"I really don't think she is," Dan said. "My only hope is the person who actually broke in comes forward, and since whoever it was probably either hates me or is indifferent to me, I don't see that happening."

"Dan..." Serena said, her eyes welling with tears.

Dan pulled her into a hug, not sure why he was comforting her at this moment. "Hey, it will be okay," Dan said. "I can kiss the Ivy League goodbye, but I'm sure I can write a strong enough essay explaining this to get into some other good school."

Serena pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. "Dan, I can't let this happen," she said. "It was me. I had the key. I just never thought the party or the punishment or anything would go this far."

Serena started to cry again, and she fled into Dan's room. Lily, Eric and Jenny had been watching the entire time. Strangely, his father had opted to go back to cooking rather than confront Dan.

"Daniel, what happens next?" Lily asked.

"Headmistress Queller wants to meet with my parents before giving me my punishment."

"I want to be at that meeting tomorrow," Lily said. "You have no idea what I went through to get Serena back into Constance. I will make sure everything works out for everyone, I promise."

"With money?" Dan asked, unable to hide his distaste.

"Maybe, though I have a different strategy in mind," Lily said. "You and your father both need to learn that using one's money to influence people isn't always a bad thing."

"What about Serena?" Dan asked, not sure where she was going with this.

"If I can, we will keep Serena out of this," Lily said.

"So I'm just supposed to take the fall," Dan asked, still not sure that Lily had up her sleeve. "You know I care about Serena, but I can't get expelled for her."

"I won't let it come to that," Lily said firmly. "You'll just have to trust me. I will make sure you and Serena both get out of this."

His father finally stepped out of the kitchen. Dan knew he had heard everything, and was processing it in relation to what he had heard on the phone.

"Lil, do you think this is the message we want to be teaching the kids, that their parents will white wash away their mistakes?" his father asked.

Lily looked at his dad, panic in her eyes. "You don't understand, Rufus," she told him. "Serena is trying so hard to do better; this was just one childish mistake. She didn't mean any harm. I can't let her take this step backwards."

Dan started to worry about Serena. He didn't have all the details from her past, largely because she was so ashamed of who she once was. If she were kicked out of Constance, there was definitely a possibility that she would backslide. He really didn't want to see that happen.

Dan saw his dad soften. "But what about Dan? Are you going to let him take the fall just because he's always been a good kid?"

"As I told Dan, you both will just have to trust me," Lily said. "I won't sacrifice Dan for Serena, if that's what you're implying. Just let me go to the meeting with you tomorrow."

"Dad, I think we should just trust Lily," Dan said. "If things don't go well, we'll take it from there."

There was the sound of a door opening, and everyone turned around to see Serena emerge from Dan's room.

"Dan, I can't let you do that," Serena said, her eyes bloodshot. "I need to come forward."

"I told you before I'd always be here for you," Dan said. "I meant it. Let your mom help me. If you need to rescue me from expulsion later, we'll deal with it then. I have no plans to fall on the sword."

Serena looked down at the ground, the fight leaving her. "I know you hate this stuff. You shouldn't be doing this for me," she said, sounding defeated.

"That's what families do, Serena," his dad said. Dan wanted to roll his eyes at the statement, considering they had had all of two dinners together as a unit, but he decided to just let it lie.

The next morning, Dan, Lily and his father arrived at school in a towncar. Dan couldn't help but note that he was at least riding to his execution in style. They were mostly silent on the ride over, the topic having been beaten to death the night before. Dan wasn't quite sure what was doing to happen, but Lily seemed calm and collected. He took this as a good sign.

When they entered the Headmistress's office, Headmistress Queller did a double take. "Mrs. van der Woodsen, this is a private meeting," she told Lily.

Lily stood up straighter, her posture rigid. "Headmistress Queller, I am seeing Daniel's father and we have a long history. Rufus and his son aren't familiar with these situations because Daniel has never been in any trouble, so I offered to assist them. I assume that won't be a problem?"

Lily's tone left no room for argument, so all three of them proceeded into the room and sat down.

"We all know why we're here," the Headmistress said. "Mr. Humphrey was found with some pretty damning evidence, and he refuses to be honest with me. If this continues, I am left with no choice but to give him the harshest of punishments. Do you have anything to say after a good night's sleep, Mr. Humphrey?"

Dan took a deep breath, and he was about to deny the allegations again when Lily spoke instead.

"Headmistress Queller, I assure you that Daniel had nothing to do with breaking into the pool," Lily said. "He's one of the most honest teenagers I've ever met, maybe to a fault."

"In my experience, even the honest ones lie when they're cornered," the Headmistress said. "Discipline is very important, and I can assure you whatever bribe you're about to present is not going to sway me."

"Headmistress Queller, I would never dream of bribing you," Lily said with mock sincerity. "I know Daniel would be honored to have a scholarship fund in his name when he leaves here, but that's not why I came to this meeting."

"I'm sure Mr. Humphrey appreciates your support, Mrs. van der Woodsen. But this really should be a family matter."

Lily smiled coldly. "I'm sure you would prefer to have the humble, naïve family from Brooklyn all alone to hear your threats about how much harder an expulsion would be on Daniel than it would be on any other student here," Lily said calmly, her voice almost a monotone. "I just wanted to talk some about how that little narrative might look to the media should you expel Daniel. The scholarship kid, number two in his class, Dartmouth dreams in his grasp, all of this taken away because of some silly teenage prank that the kid continues to deny being responsible for. I think it would be a compelling story, especially considering that a school with this many resources houses a pool, a known danger and temptation to teens, where kids can access it through a simple key, one which multiple students have access to. There are no security guards; there are no video cameras. It's really quite dangerous if you think about it. What if a swimmer had an accident? It would be quite alarming for the school to scapegoat the one kid who doesn't have rich, powerful parents and who needs this school more than any of them, when the school itself should be responsible for its lax security. However, I think we can both agree it would be quite the gripping story. In fact, maybe Dartmouth would actually see Daniel's hardship as a plus for admissions."

The Headmistress shifted in her chair, looking slightly rattled. She turned back to Dan.

"Mr. Humphrey, are you sticking to your story that you did not break into the pool?"

Dan was relieved by the phrasing of the question. Had he been asked if he knew who broke into the pool, he would have had a tough decision to make.

"I honestly had never touched that key until it came out of my pocket in your office," Dan said. "I think someone planted it there."

The Headmistress nodded thoughtfully, giving him an appraising look.

"I suppose the key itself doesn't prove anything," she said. "I believe that you would have confessed by now had you broken into the pool."

"Thank you, Headmistress," Dan said.

"You are all free to go," she said. "Just know that should anything like this happen again, I might not be so trusting."

"I understand," Dan said politely, standing up to leave. He bolted out of the room as fast as he could without running, his dad and Lily close behind.

Once outside, Dan nearly collapsed with relief. He wasn't completely sure he approved of Lily's methods, but he was glad that no one was going to get expelled. He supposed that sometimes the means justified the ends.

"Thank you, Lily," Dan said.

"No, thank you Daniel," Lily returned.

"Is everything okay?" Dan heard a voice ask timidly behind him. He turned around to see Serena, Blair and Nate standing together, waiting to find out what happened.

"Yeah, your mom basically threatened a media expose on the school's lax pool security and victimization of scholarship kids if Headmistress Queller didn't back down," Dan said. "She suddenly decided that I really didn't know where the key came from."

Serena gave him a big hug. "Thank you," she said. "I am so sorry about all of this. I should have been brave enough to put a stop to it."

"Hey, you didn't deserve to ruin everything you've worked for either," Dan said.

Serena pulled back from the hug and stood back beside Blair, looking relieved.

"So, I guess this means you're sticking around," Blair said. "I had always presumed your old buzz cut was the first step toward military school."

"Stop, Blair, you're making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Dan said, relieved that things were seemingly normal between them after their kiss.

"For someone who is making jokes now, you sure seemed worried ten minutes ago," Nate chided.

"Aw, Waldorf, I'm touched," Dan said lightly, though he was pretty sure Blair caught the sincerity underneath his teasing tone.

Before Blair could respond, they were interrupted by Dan's father clearing his throat.

"I wish Jenny and Eric were here, but we don't want to wait," his dad said.

Serena's eyes went wide, clearly waiting for the next blow to hit. Dan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as well.

"I just told Lily that I am amazed how quickly we're acting like a family, going to bat for one another like families do," he said. "So, we just decided that as soon as we can, we're going to make it official."

"But...you're not even divorced," Dan said abruptly.

"That's part of the 'as soon as we can'," his father explained.

"So, we're all going to live together soon," Serena said. "I suppose in the end I did get my punishment."

"Yes, Serena, sometime soon we all will all live together," her mother said impatiently. "We'll figure out the details later."

"Dude, that's going to be awkward," Nate said quietly to Dan.

Dan didn't say anything. When Nate was right, he was right.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Notes: Sorry for the somewhat delayed chapter. This chapter somehow proved to be even harder than the last one to write, as this little universe required the plot to be pretty AU, but I also wanted to hold true to the spirit of the episode. Plus, with the writer's strike right after this, there's some timeline issues from the series. Presumably 1.13 didn't happen much after 1.12, but 1.14 happened after spring break. So, I opted to make the time jump clear here. I hope it worked. And, I hope you all enjoy the ending, the one thing I knew I wanted to happen in this particular chapter when I started outlining the direction of this story. **_

"So, what do you think?" Dan's father asked him, putting an arm around his shoulder. Dan looked around his soon-to-be room, not quite sure what to think. He already missed the exposed brick of the loft.

"It's really...nice," Dan said noncommittally. He wasn't lying, his new room was certainly _nice_. It wasn't huge (Dan had volunteered to take the smallest bedroom, figuring Jenny and Serena needed the closet space, and Eric probably was used to having more space), but it had expensive hardwood floors, floor to ceiling windows, and its own marble bathroom. Lily had searched far and wide to find a penthouse that would allow each of them to have their own bathroom. Dan was having a hard time imagining himself in this space, one which ostensibly he would almost never have to leave.

They were interrupted by a scream in the other room. He and his dad ran into Jenny's new room to find her staring at her phone in shock.

"Is everything okay in here?" Lily said, entering the room much more calmly than he and his father had.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Jenny said, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably.

"What's on your phone, Jen?" Dan asked.

"Nothing," she said. "You really don't want to know."

Dan rolled his eyes. "If it's a Gossip Girl blast, you know I can just read my own phone," he said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Jenny said.

"Jenny, what's this about?" their father asked. "Does it have something to do with Dan?"

Dan was now the one staring at his phone in shock. Why was Serena buying a pregnancy test?

"Daniel?" Lily asked, concerned.

Before Dan could register Lily's query, his father snatched his phone out of his hand. Dan cringed in anticipation.

"Lil, I think you and I need to have a talk with Dan," his father said. "Jenny, you and Eric go on to school."

"It's still an hour before class," Jenny whined.

"Then go to your new room and sit," his father said, irritated.

Jenny shot Dan a smug look and went to her unfurnished room. She seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was the one in trouble for once.

There was no furniture at the penthouse, so Dan followed Lily and his father to the kitchen so they could sit at the kitchen counter which had stools at least.

"I thought you and Serena made it quite clear that you were broken up," Lily said.

"We are," Dan answered, not sure how much information to give out right now. He was confused to say the least. He knew enough to know that while it was technically possible that his and Serena's almost sexual encounter could result in pregnancy, that it was incredibly unlikely. On top of that, it was nearly five months ago at this point. This was all far more information than he cared to share.

"Then why is Serena buying a pregnancy test?" his father asked angrily. "I'm really disappointed in you."

Dan sighed. "I don't know anything about the test," Dan explained. "Honestly, it's virtually impossible for me to have gotten Serena pregnant."

Dan wanted to kick himself immediately for leaving that opening.

"What do you mean by 'virtually impossible', Daniel?" Lily asked, staring at him with an intense scrutiny that made him want to run and hide.

"Serena and I never really had sex," Dan said, trying to find the best phrasing and failing miserably. "I also don't think she's been with anyone else, so I think the whole thing is a misunderstanding."

"Dan, I thought you understood how these things work. Just because you pull out..." his father started. Dan felt himself redden.

"Dad, I do understand," Dan said, quickly cutting him off before he said more. He sighed. It looked like he was going to have to tell the whole miserable story.

"Back in early November, Serena and I had the loft to ourselves briefly. We, uh, started...but within about ten seconds you and Jenny came home and that killed the mood. I didn't...you know. After that we decided to wait, and we were still waiting when you and Lily told us you were together. Plus, I wore a condom," Dan said all in a rush, looking at the ground the entire time.

"Rufus, I think we should listen to him," Lily said comfortingly, grabbing his father's arm. "I also put Serena on the pill years ago. Hopefully this is all a misunderstanding that Serena can explain when she gets here."

As if on cue, Serena entered the kitchen. "I brought bagels and coffee," she said sunnily. "Why are you guys holed up back here. I thought everyone was checking out their rooms."

Without saying a word, Rufus handed Serena the phone. Serena read the blast, her face registering shock. "Oh," Serena said. She took in the scene of the three of them, and Dan could tell the moment all the pieces fell into place. "You guys didn't think...Dan, you know that..." Serena sputtered.

"Yeah, unfortunately I just explained it in great detail to our parents," Dan said.

Serena cringed. "Oh, Dan, I'm so sorry," she said apologetically.

"We've concluded that it must be a big misunderstanding," Lily said. "It is, isn't it Serena?"

Dan watched as Serena's entire demeanor shifted to one of shame when her mother used that tone. "Yeah, the test isn't for me, Mom," she said, looking at the ground.

"Who is it for?" Lily asked sternly. "I know you're trying to protect someone, but once it went public it became our business."

"Please don't tell anyone," Serena begged. "The test is for Blair."

Dan tried not to register his shock and some other emotion he couldn't quite figure out. At least he was completely confident that he was not the father no matter how good that kiss was.

"You're a very good friend," Lily said. "You do know we have people all around who will run errands like this for you, don't you?"

"I thought I was being discreet," Serena sighed. She didn't say anything else for several moments, then finally stood up and picked up a cup of coffee. "Do you want me to get Jenny and Eric for breakfast?"

Their new home was only a few blocks from school, so the four of them opted to walk. It was surreal, walking to school with Serena and their siblings with the whole school whispering about the new addition to the van der Humphrey clan. Dan and Serena walked several feet in front of Jenny and Eric, speaking in low voices.

"I'm not pregnant," Serena told one group of girls as they walked past. She turned to Dan. "I'm sorry about all this."

Dan shrugged. "I think your mom and I just got a lot closer."

Serena made a face. "Yeah, I'm _really_ sorry about that."

"So, uh, Blair might be pregnant?" Dan asked awkwardly, trying to sound disinterested.

"Possibly. She would have to give birth before she'd admit it, so I thought I'd help her figure things out."

"Does Nate know?"

Serena shook her head. "I'm not even sure Blair is totally aware. I know this is a lot to ask, but could you please keep this to yourself? Feel free to tell people you're not going to be a dad though."

Dan laughed. "Thanks for that. Of course I won't tell anyone."

Even with all the craziness, Dan couldn't help but feel a little rush of warmth when Serena smiled at him. It had been nearly three months since the pool incident and their parents' big announcement. While he and Serena had been friendly as they had looked at numerous potential homes and sat through countless family dinners, today was the first time he'd felt like they might truly be friends when all was said and done.

When Dan finished his last class, he couldn't wait to go home. While he had slowly gotten used to being on the Gossip Girl radar, he'd never really been the center of a scandal. It was strange to have everyone speak in hushed tones and point as he walked by. Dan walked into the quad, ready to escape. Of course, this is when he ran right into Chuck Bass.

"Chuck," Dan sighed. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"I imagine you were distracted," Chuck said snidely. "I hear your little family unit might be growing. I'm not sure the Upper East Side has ever had step-siblings raising a kid together."

"Serena's not pregnant," Dan said tersely. "Sorry to disappoint."

"I'm not at all disappointed," Chuck said, stepping in even closer so that he was speaking uncomfortably close to his face. "You're already responsible for taking away the Serena I used to know."

"What do you want Chuck?" Dan asked, exasperated.

"I just think it's important that you know someone's watching you," Chuck said mysteriously.

"I'll keep that in mind," Dan said, rolling his eyes.

"Break it up, you two," Dan heard Serena say as she approached them.

"You ready?' Dan asked Serena, shooting Chuck a final glare. "I don't know about you, but I really can't wait to pick out curtains."

"It'll be fun," Serena said cheerfully. "You're going to learn about shades of blue you never imagined existed."

"Looks like you're quite the happy family," Chuck said snidely before stalking off.

"What was that about?" Serena asked, confused.

"I have no clue," Dan answered. "Let's go. I'm dying to know the difference between midnight and navy blue."

Dan thought his head was going to explode if he had to look at another swatch of fabric. Serena hadn't been kidding about the different shades of blue. When he was a kid, he was always amazed at the different colors of crayons in the 64-pack, but Crayola had not prepared him for this.

Upon their parents' orders, everyone had turned off their phones to pay attention to the interior designer. After the day's events, Dan had only been too happy to comply.

Their meeting was interrupted by their doorman buzzing them. "A Blair Waldorf is here to see Daniel and Serena," he told them. "She says it's an emergency."

"Send her up," Lily sighed. She turned to Dan and Serena. "Make it quick, we don't want to keep the designer."

"Uh, just give me the midnight blue curtains," Dan said. "That will be fine."

"Are you sure Daniel?" Lily said skeptically, clearly not approving of his choice.

"Yeah, unless there's something you like better," Dan said. "I really only care about curtains so long as they keep the sun out in the morning."

"The midnight blue will be fine," Lily said, giving in.

Just then Blair stalked in, looking furious.

"Can I speak to you two alone somewhere?" Blair asked, her posture rigid.

They walked into Serena's room and stood and stared at one another. "What's going on, B?" Serena asked sympathetically.

"Have you not seen the blast?" Blair asked. She handed Serena her phone, and Serena and Dan read the blast. _It looks like Queen B is expecting a new arrival. Are she and Nate ready for an heir to the throne?_

Blair glared at Dan. "I should have known Serena couldn't trust you," she said angrily. "Who did you tell? Or did you send the tip to Gossip Girl?"

Dan was dumbfounded. He hadn't told anyone, and he couldn't believe that Blair would think he'd sent the blast.

"I didn't tell anyone, and I think you know I would never send that tip," Dan said.

"How do I know that? Just because you're moving to the penthouse doesn't mean you suddenly have class, _Brooklyn_," she scoffed.

"Well, I thought we were friends, but I guess not," Dan said angrily. "Friends trust each other."

Serena shot him a strange look out of the corner of her eye. Dan knew she had questions about this supposed friendship, but he really didn't feel like explaining the sporadic phone calls and clandestine outings at museums and theaters. He wasn't even sure _he_ knew the explanation, other than they were friends. Friends who had kissed, but he tried to block that out when he could.

"I don't know what happened, but you can trust Dan," Serena said carefully. "And you know you can trust me."

"Obviously, there's someone I can't trust," Blair said. "I told you that you shouldn't have told your low rent ex-boyfriend slash quasi-brother."

"I was cornered, and we both took a public bullet for you today," Serena protested.

"And a private one," Dan muttered under his breath.

"What are you mumbling about, Humphrey?"

"Nothing," Dan sighed. "What do you even care about this blast? It's not like anyone thinks you and Nate weren't having sex. Plus, it's just a rumor. No one has to know it's true."

At that moment, Blair's phone started to buzz in Serena's hand. "It's Nate," Serena said. Blair shook her head, and Serena hit ignore. The phone showed that Blair had ten missed calls.

"This is the last thing he needs right now," Blair said tiredly.

"Just take the test, Blair," Dan told her. "You're just going to go crazy until you know for sure."

"He's right," Serena said gently. "You can't avoid the truth forever. Or Nate."

"I'm not pregnant," Blair said determinedly.

"That's entirely possible," Dan said. "Take the test."

Blair narrowed her eyes. "Just shut up, Humphrey. We're not friends, and you're a half-virgin who earlier today thought he might have managed to get a girl pregnant without really having sex. Sex ed at your public middle school must have been sorely lacking."

"I'm done," Dan said, trying to not let Blair's lashing out sting too much. "I'd rather reevaluate my midnight blue curtain choice than stick around for this."

"Of course you would pick midnight blue for curtains," he heard Blair say as he stalked out.

The next morning, all Dan wanted to do was stay in bed. He looked at the boxes surrounding him, not quite believing that in a few short days this wouldn't be his home anymore. In a weird way, the previous day's events had distracted him from the reality of the move. He hadn't quite processed it yet with the flurry of preparations involved, and he was sure he wasn't ready to leave Brooklyn as part of his past. He hadn't realized how much being from Brooklyn shaped his identity.

With a sigh, Dan got up and put on his uniform. As he walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat, he saw Jenny looking at her phone with a smug smile.

"What's going on now?" Dan asked, hopeful that some new scandal would take the attention away from Blair.

"It looks like the paternity of Blair's baby might be in question," Jenny said almost gleefully. "She totally deserves all of this; you should see how she treats people."

Dan couldn't decide which part of that sentence to focus on. Unsurprisingly, Blair must have said something mean to Jenny the day before, so he decided to just ignore that aspect of it. He figured it would blow over and Jenny would be sucking up to Blair again in no time.

"What's the blast say?" Dan asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"Apparently, Blair was spotted making out with someone else a few months ago," Jenny said excitedly. "I'm not sure how this didn't get out."

"It's probably not true," Dan said, hoping Jenny didn't detect the nervousness in his voice.

Jenny shrugged. "It doesn't even matter if it is. This will knock Blair down a peg or two regardless."

"Let's just go to school," Dan sighed.

A block away from school, Dan was accosted by Blair. "Scram, Little J," Blair said coldly. "I need to speak to your brother about something."

"You know you can't just boss me around like that," Jenny protested. Blair's eyes narrowed.

"Jen, I'll see you later," Dan said, hoping his sister wouldn't make things worse.

"Fine," Jenny huffed before walking away.

"Even though you were a total bitch to me yesterday, I didn't send this tip either," Dan said defensively.

"I know you didn't," Blair said, softening some. "It was Chuck."

"Did he tell you that?" Dan asked, confused.

"No, but he did see us kissing and has been harassing me about it ever since," Blair said. "I figured even if you were mad at me you wouldn't put yourself at risk like this."

"Thanks, I guess."

"So," Blair started timidly, looking at the ground. "I'm not pregnant."

Dan couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face, even if he was still mad at her. "Good," he said simply. He smiled sheepishly. "And by the way, my middle school sex ed did at least teach me enough to know I wasn't a potential father just from kissing you."

"If you're waiting for an apology, you'll be waiting a long time," Blair snapped.

Dan was frustrated that his sarcastic olive branch wasn't accepted. If she wanted to end this...whatever, then he wasn't going to fight it.

"I was expecting no such thing," Dan said. "After all, we're not even friends."

With that, Dan walked off ahead of her, momentarily proud of getting in the last word. He tried to ignore the sadness he felt, and it took all of his willpower to not look back at her.

After another long day, Dan felt overcome with relief that the weekend was finally here. He wanted to sprint out of this classroom when the bell rang. Jenny was going to spend the night with friends, and his dad was going to stay with Lily. His dad and Serena had tried to convince him to come over and hang out at the Palace, but he was really looking forward to spending the evening alone. Plus, Sunday was moving day and he wanted to savor his last few moments in his childhood home.

Walking briskly through the quad, Dan sighed when he saw Chuck approach him. He should have known he wouldn't be able to escape so easily. He kept walking when Chuck reached him, hoping he would just go away. He knew this hope was futile.

"Chuck," Dan said tensely, stopping when Chuck met him step for step even with his shorter legs. "Just tell me whatever little torture you're putting me through so I can start my weekend."

"I take it Blair told you that I know about your little rendezvous," Chuck smirked. "I'm curious to see what she tells Nathaniel."

"Why didn't you tell Gossip Girl it was me?" Dan asked, genuinely curious.

Chuck shrugged. "This one was to show Blair that I wasn't bluffing," he said. "There's no reason to play all your cards at once. I'm sure Blair won't tell Nate it was you, so I figured it would be much more fun to spread out the information. Congratulations on narrowly escaping fatherhood twice, by the way."

"I never slept with Blair," Dan said, deciding not to even discuss Serena with him.

Chuck shrugged. "I really don't care about your pathetic sex life, or lack thereof," Chuck said snidely. "I do care about Nate, and you're clearly not a very good friend."

"Are you seriously trying to warn me away from Nate?" Dan asked, emitting a short chuckle. "You keep telling yourself that this is about Nate and not your infatuation with Blair, or about how you wish it was you moving in with the van der Woodsens."

"You should watch yourself, Humphrey," Chuck said in a warning tone.

"Do your worst, Bass," Dan said. "I'm not going to cower in fear. I have half a mind to just tell Nate myself, but I don't want to hurt him or Blair because of a meaningless, drunken kiss. If you do, feel free."

With that, Dan turned and walked away. Once he was out of sight of Chuck and the adrenaline wore off, he felt exhausted. He hadn't even moved to the UES yet, and he was already caught right in the middle of the lies and schemes. He hoped Chuck believed his false bravado, because he knew that Chuck would strike the second he smelled fear.

That night, Dan laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, half-heartedly sipping on a beer he snuck out of the fridge. The living room was filled with boxes, making his bedroom his only retreat. He was contemplating watching a movie when he heard a soft knock on the door.

While he wasn't sure who he had expected to behind the door, he definitely had not been expecting Blair.

"Hey," he said cautiously as they exchanged an awkward look. "Do you want a beer?"

She scrunched her nose. "I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged.

Blair sighed. "Can we talk?" Their eyes met, and he could see how vulnerable she was right now. He softened immediately, unable to dismiss her.

"Yeah," he said, putting his arm on the small of her back and leading her into the loft. "I'm sorry there's almost no place to sit right now."

"Where have you been sitting?"

"On my bed, it's about the only empty surface that's not the floor."

"Then let's go in your room," she said decisively.

They sat side by side on his bed, not looking at each other and not touching, which was no easy fete on his twin size bed. He could tell she was holding herself very stiffly to avoid falling off the bed or touching him.

"I'm sorry," she said after a few moments of silence. "I hope you'll be my friend again."

"I thought we never were friends," he said bitterly.

"You know better than that," she chided. "As Serena will tell you, I tend to lash out when cornered."

"So that was all just a sign of friendship?" he asked, lightly nudging her shoulder. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Something like that," she said with a small smile. She paused for a beat. "Nate and I broke up."

Dan felt his heart speed up, which he attributed to the guilt from their kiss. "It wasn't because we kissed, was it?"

Blair shook her head. "That might have started the discussion, but that's not why we broke up," she said sadly, looking straight ahead to avoid his eyes. "When I thought I might be pregnant, I realized then just how badly I didn't want it to be true. It wasn't just because I'm 17 years old and in high school. It was because I knew I didn't want to be tied to Nate forever."

"What did Nate say?"

"He said he felt the same, and had for awhile but that he didn't even know how to end things because we'd been together so long."

He noticed her eyes fill with tears, and he cautiously wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She immediately responded, clinging to him and crying softly into his t-shirt.

"It's going to be okay," he said comfortingly. "Everything might be different, but that's not always bad."

"I just tried so hard," she said, moving her face away from his chest and wiping away her tears. "I loved him, and I think he loved me too. But it was always so _hard_ for some reason. Why is nothing ever easy for me?"

Dan didn't have an answer. He knew it was largely rhetorical anyhow, and that she was really asking: _Why is everything so much easier for Serena?_

"I don't know," he said. "I think the challenges are what makes us strong."

Blair laughed. "You sound like a Hallmark card."

"It might be trite, but it's true," he said. "Do you think I'm relishing my sudden new family with my ex-girlfriend when my parents aren't even officially divorced yet? Or how about leaving my childhood home to move into a _penthouse_?"

"Only you would make the word 'penthouse' sound like a punishment," Blair said mockingly, sounding more like herself.

"It's just that everything's changing so fast," Dan said. "A year ago I didn't even know any of you, and no one talked to me at school. Now I'm the center of a big scandal, worried that I betrayed everyone I care about. On top of it all, I'm leaving the only home I've ever known."

"When's the big move?"

"Sunday," Dan said. "My dad and Jenny are coming tomorrow night to spend one last night together here, I think just to humor me. Once Jenny saw her en suite bathroom and walk-in closet, I was the only clutching onto nostalgia."

"Don't tell me you're not at least excited about having your own bathroom," Blair said, raising a knowing eyebrow.

"Yeah, I will admit there are certain perks. There also might be something to be said for having real walls," he admitted.

"Like you've ever needed the privacy," Blair teased.

"Yes, this bed will officially never see any action," Dan said sadly. "Lily insisted I get a bigger bed, so this stays here."

"Sorry you had to explain to your dad and Lily about the small bit of action this bed did see," Blair said sheepishly.

"Believe me, so am I," Dan said, shuddering at the memory.

Blair cleared her throat and started to stand up. "Well, I said what I wanted to say. I'll let you enjoy your time alone with the loft."

Instinctively, he grabbed her hand before she could stand, the action causing her to finally look him in the eye. "By the way, I'm sorry about Nate. I know that even if it's the right thing to do, that it still hurts," he said, continuing to look her in the eyes.

She contemplated him for a moment before speaking. "Thanks," she said softly. "It's been a long time coming; I've always known deep down that he wanted Serena. Everyone does."

"Don't say that," Dan said, lightly stroking her hand with his thumb. "You and Serena are very different, but that doesn't mean she's more desirable. There's someone out there for you who will see how special you are, even if it isn't Nate."

Blair laughed mirthlessly. "Like you wouldn't rather be with Serena right now," she said tersely. "You'd still be with Serena if your parents hadn't hooked up."

"Blair, don't doubt that you're beautiful," Dan said, not sure why he was feeling compelled to spill all this. It could only end badly. "You're also incredibly smart, and underneath the layers of elitism and bitchiness, you're a good person who would do anything for the people she cares about."

She gave him a watery smile, like she still didn't quite believe him. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better, Humphrey," she said. "You really don't have to feel sorry for me; I'm going to be okay."

Dan let out a frustrated sigh. "I meant every word," he said. She still didn't look convinced, and she continued to look sad and vulnerable. Not knowing how else to convince her, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. He pulled back after a brief moment, her eyes slowly blinking open. "I've been wanting to do that ever since the first time, but I've held back because I know it's a bad idea and just makes everything complicated, not to mention the probability of you rejecting me. But don't doubt that I'm attracted to you."

"How many beers have you had?" she asked skeptically.

"Just the half of this one," he said. She laughed and he smiled back at her. "I'm really not much of a drinker."

The next thing he knew, she had crawled into his lap and was kissing him aggressively. He responded immediately, pulling her body close to his and exploring her mouth. She pulled away long enough to divest him of his shirt before kissing him again. She grabbed one of his hands and placed it on her back. "Unzip me," she said against his mouth. He let out a small groan and complied, kissing her shoulder when her dress loosened.

She leaned back, slowly pulling her dress over her head. She straddled him, wearing only her bra and panties, panting slightly. She just stared, waiting for him to make the next move.

He still didn't quite believe this was real. He was ashamed to admit he'd had some fantasies about this moment, but he'd largely chalked it up to normal teenage boy hormones controlling his brain. Now that she was here, in the flesh and so very real, he couldn't quite believe that he was allowed to touch. There was still a part of him that thought she might slap him, considering just this morning she didn't even want to admit that they were friends.

"Humphrey, I didn't really think I was being subtle," Blair said tersely, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

"I'm just having a hard believing this is real," he said sincerely, with a bit of awe. "You're so beautiful." While Serena was also beautiful, there was just something untouchable about Blair.

Blair merely rolled her eyes and started to kiss him again, apparently deciding he was a lost cause. As her hands started to drift downward toward the waistband of his pajama pants, he grabbed her hands and somehow managed to roll them over so she was on her back, her hands pinned above her head. She smiled at him mischievously and wrapped a leg around his hips, drawing him closer.

"You never cease to surprise me," she said, shifting her hips suggestively.

All he knew was that he desperately wanted to slow this down, as everything was moving too fast to even enjoy it. He gently smoothed her hair out of her face and stared into her eyes, trying to convey that this wasn't just sex. He wasn't sure what would happen after this, but he knew it had to mean something.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right," he said in her ear, his voice sounding deep to his own ears. He cupped her head in his hands before leaning in to kiss her reverently, almost chastely. She smiled at him affectionately when he pulled away, lightly stroking his face with her hand.

"You're such a _romantic_," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It's just a cover," he said with a grin. "I'm really just trying to not embarrass myself, being a half-virgin and all."

She giggled, then leaned forward to kiss him, running a hand through his hair. "Just so you know, you're doing pretty well so far," she told him, apparently sensing some of his insecurity about his inexperience.

He smiled in return, leaning down to kiss her again. Neither of them spoke for a long time after that.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's notes: This is another long one, which is somewhat ironic because the actual episode contains very little Dan and virtually nothing from his POV. Again, this getting very AU but I also wanted to keep trying to hold true to the spirit of the episode as much as possible, even though in canon Dan had very little involvement in Jenny's plot line on the show. I'm really anxious to hear if it worked for you, so please review! **_

On the fifth day following his night with Blair, Dan did the same thing he had done the previous four days: he called Blair and left her a voicemail. This time, he was pretty sure his confusion and frustration were evident in voice.

"_Hi, Blair. As you probably know from having hit the ignore button when you saw my name, this is Dan again. I, uh, just wanted to let you know I've been thinking about you, but not like, uh, all the time or in a creepy way. This will be my last call, as I feel six calls might cross the line from proper protocol following a sexual encounter to weird stalker territory. So, please call me."_

With a sigh, Dan hung up the phone. He vowed that he wouldn't call her again. He knew it was fruitless to not think about her or their night together, as that was virtually all he had been thinking about that week. To make matters worse, it was spring break and he had very few distractions. After moving from the loft to the new van der Humphrey penthouse, Dan had been sent to Hudson to spend the week with his mom while Jenny went to Aspen with her friends. While he had made peace with his mother for the most part, he found they had little to say to one another so he would beg off to his room claiming that he was working on a story as much as possible.

Instead of writing, Dan spent a lot of time contemplating what would happen when he got back to the city. He would officially be living with his ex-girlfriend while trying to figure out the fallout from sleeping with said ex-girlfriend's best friend. To top it all off, Nate had been sending him increasingly desperate texts about how the soccer team was short-handed and how he should join the team after the break. While he enjoyed spending time with Nate, he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his encounter with Blair a secret from Nate. Between playing soccer with Nate and living with Serena, he was going to have constant reminders about his undefined relationship with Blair. He had somehow managed to create a tangled web out of the three people who regularly spoke to him, though he supposed he was more the fly that got caught in the web, one which had existed long before he entered the scene. The worst part was, even though Dan had more people in his life than he ever had, there was no one he could confide in about Blair or the situation he had created.

When Dan stepped off the train in Manhattan, he felt an incredible ambivalence about returning to the city. While he had been bored and lonely at his mother's, at least his problems seemed far away. Plus, he still wasn't sure how their makeshift family situation was going to work out. Without spending a single night in the penthouse yet, Dan yearned to return to the loft. It was still strange that the loft was no longer home.

As Dan walked into the lobby of the train station, he was greeted by a sight he was not expecting. He saw a smiling Serena holding a sign that said "Humphrey" along with Lily, his father and Eric, who was looking a little sheepish. Not quite knowing what to say, Dan gave them a small wave as he approached.

"Welcome home!" Serena said sunnily, giving him a hug. Dan smiled, pleased by the warm welcome.

"This was my dad's idea, wasn't it?" Dan whispered in her ear.

"Definitely, but I'm happy you're home to distract your dad. He's already driving us crazy," Serena whispered back.

As he pulled away, he caught Eric's eye. "Hey man, you have a good break?"

Eric shrugged. "It was all right," he said.

"Thanks for coming to the train station," Dan said. "I imagine you had better things to do."

"We're a family now," Eric said dryly. "Families do these sorts of things."

Dan shot Eric a sympathetic look before turning his attention to Lily. "Thanks for coming to pick me up. It really wasn't necessary," Dan said politely.

"It was our pleasure, Daniel," Lily said. "There's a limo waiting out front to take us home."

"Oh, of course," Dan said, trying hard not to roll his eyes. He noticed a small smirk on Serena's face. "So, what's the next stop: meeting Jenny at the airport with balloons?"

"Jenny made it very clear that she had her own transportation home," his father said.

"I still can't believe you didn't make her go to Hudson," Dan grumbled as they walked toward the exit.

"You know your mother and I decided not to fight her on this," his father said. "Speaking of your sister, we can all use the car ride to discuss what we can do for her birthday."

"Be sure that it involves a cake with her picture on it," Eric said sarcastically as they got into the car.

Dan laughed. "Totally, that and party hats," Dan said, exchanging a bemused look with Eric as he sat beside him in the limo.

When they exited the limo, Dan could help but stare at their new building in awe. It was surreal to think the entire top floor belonged to his new family. As he stepped off the elevator, Dan couldn't quite believe this was home. It was weird to step off an elevator and enter the foyer to your home, or at least it felt weird to Dan.

"Home, sweet home," his father practically chirped as they all walked into the living room. Dan sensed that his father was in hyperdrive, likely concerned about how this new family with four teenagers was going to function.

"Dad, you can take it down a couple of notches," Dan told his father. "I'm sure we'll all get used to it, but for now it's going to be an adjustment."

"I just want you to be happy, son," his father said sincerely. "The same goes for all of you kids."

"We know. It's just weird coming home but not coming _home_," Dan said. "Just like I'm sure it's weird for Serena and Eric to be force fed chili and waffles."

"There's also the board games," Eric chimed in. "Though I do like all those things in moderation."

"Rufus is trying really hard to bond with you two kids," Lily admonished them. "You used to complain about how your stepfathers didn't care about you."

"Mom, he's not complaining," Serena defended her brother. "All of this family bonding is just...different than what we're used to."

"It sounds like you're complaining," Lily said, sounding frustrated.

"How about we order the takeout of Eric and Serena's choice, and then do our own things tonight?" Dan suggested. "Tomorrow we can have a big family dinner when Jenny gets back, and we can collectively harass her about her birthday."

Serena shot Dan a grateful look.

"We just need a night to ourselves," Serena said. "It's nothing personal, Rufus."

"I suppose the chili can hold until tomorrow," his father responded.

"Chinese takeout it is," Eric said.

Family crisis averted, Dan picked up his bags and walked toward his new room. Dan hadn't gotten the chance to unpack before leaving for Hudson, so the room had a very sterile, hotel like feel. Dan was hopeful that a few personal touches may help it feel like home, but he wasn't sure that would ever be the case.

Dan sprawled out on his back, trying to get a feel for his new mattress. He smiled to himself, thinking of how he hadn't left his old bed unchristened after all. His phone started to vibrate, distracting him from his musings. He saw that he had a text message from Blair.

_Rumor has it you're back in town. Be here in a half hour. _

Dan sighed. She had ignored his calls all week, but apparently felt she could order him around at her convenience. As much as he wanted to stay home to prove a point, he wanted to talk to her even more. He had no idea where they stood, and this made him incredibly anxious.

Stuffing his phone in his pocket, he walked out into the living room just as the food was arriving.

"You emerged just in time for dinner," Serena said.

"I think I'm going to skip out on dinner," Dan said. "I'm really craving some pizza right now-there's no decent pizza in Hudson. Plus, there's this movie I remembered I want to go see..."

"What movie? I could use to get out," Serena said. "Just let me eat really fast, and I can meet you after you grab pizza."

"Well, it's a French Holocaust film," Dan said, not sure how he so easily came up with the lie.

Serena scrunched her nose. "Maybe next time."

"For sure," Dan said, feeling guilty.

When Dan arrived in Blair's lobby, the doorman told him to go on up. There was no one to greet him when he exited the elevator. Not sure what he was supposed to do, he decided to proceed on to Blair's room. He knocked lightly on her door.

"Come in," Blair said.

Dan tentatively opened the door, not quite sure what he was going to say when he saw her.

"You made it with five minutes to spare," Blair informed him.

"What would have happened if I'd been late?" Dan asked, curious.

"I would have told the doorman you were forbidden from coming up," Blair said haughtily.

"That doesn't seem quite fair," Dan said, feeling like the conversation had already gotten out of control. "I did call you five times, all of which went unanswered, I might add."

"If I'd answered, what would you have said?" Blair asked tersely.

Dan supposed that was a fair question. It was too bad he didn't know the answer.

"Uh, I dunno," Dan started tentatively. "I just wanted to let you know that...that night meant something to me. It wasn't just sex for me."

"So what was it?"

Dan sighed, not sure why he had to answer all the hard questions. "I don't think I can answer that alone," Dan said. "I obviously have no idea where we stand. I don't know if you didn't answer the phone because of Serena and Nate and all the other UES bullshit, or if the sex just wasn't good for you. I uh, know the first time was pretty fast, but it was...my first time and uh...it's not like I left you hanging. Then the second time..."

"Please, stop talking," Blair interrupted him, rolling her eyes. She sighed. "First, I'll appease your male ego and tell you that the sex was fine."

"That's _appeasing_ my male ego?" Dan asked, raising his eyebrows.

Blair shrugged. "It's not like you weren't there," she said, gifting him with a hint of a smile.

"So, if the sex was _fine_, then why didn't you want to talk to me all week?"

"Because I didn't want to talk," Blair said enigmatically.

Dan tilted his head, considering this. "So, are you ready to talk now? Is that why you texted me?"

Blair shook her head. "I still don't want to _talk_," Blair said, stepping toward him slowly until she was standing right in front of him. Before Dan could express his confusion, Blair yanked his head down into a fierce kiss. He responded instinctively, kissing her back and pulling her flush against him. After a few moments, she pulled away just enough to start tugging at his clothes.

"Seriously, what's with the vests?" she said breathlessly between kisses as she removed the offending garment. Dan decided this was a rhetorical question, and continued to kiss her rather than answering, backing them towards her bed.

Afterwards, as they both gathered their breaths, Dan couldn't help but grin and roll over to face her. "So, was that a booty call?" he asked with a smirk.

She slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I don't do _booty calls_," Blair huffed.

"Then what was it?' he asked, still grinning.

"You can go home now," she said dismissively. "Your work here is done."

Dan looked over at the clock. "I suppose I do need to go home," he said regretfully, mentally trying to locate his clothing. "Serena thinks I'm at a movie, and that's probably what she told our parents."

Dan spotted his boxers beside the bed. He got out of bed and yanked them on, noticing Blair's appraising look. He winked at her as he caught her eye. She rolled her eyes in return.

"So how is life at the van der Humphreys'?" Blair asked as he located the rest of his clothing and got dressed.

"Weird," Dan said. "Jenny gets back tomorrow, and I can't decide if that will make things better or worse."

Dan noticed Blair's expression get cloudy at the mention of his sister's name. He figured Jenny was on the same roller coaster she always was with Blair. Not wanting to get involved, Dan decided not to say anything. Things with Blair were confusing enough; there was no need to add Jenny to the equation.

"You guys really are like two-thirds of the Brady Bunch," Blair scoffed.

Dan chuckled, slipping his vest back on. "It would have added an interesting twist if Greg and Marsha had been exes," Dan laughed. He paused for a moment, not sure how to say goodbye. "So, uh, I guess this is goodnight." He sat back on the bed so he could lean over and kiss her softy.

"Goodnight," she said, a little breathless. "Enjoy your first night as an official resident of the UES."

"I hadn't really processed that yet," Dan said, grimacing. "Thanks."

"Anytime," she said, smiling as he left.

The next evening, the whole family sat down to dinner as they had discussed.

"So, Jenny, do you know what you want to do for your birthday?" Serena asked.

"I'm going with my friends to Socialista," Jenny said. "You can come if you want."

"We'll see," Serena said noncommittally. "I don't know what I'm doing that night yet."

Dan wondered if her hesitance had something to do with whatever was going on between Jenny and Blair, but wasn't sure how to broach the subject.

"So you don't want to do something with the family?" his father asked, looking hurt.

"Can we do the family stuff another night?" Jenny asked pleadingly.

"Of course we can," Lily said before his father could protest. "Just let us know, and we will do whatever you want as a family."

At that point, they were interrupted by their doorman entering the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have a package for Miss Serena van der Woodsen," he said, handing a large box to Serena.

Serena looked puzzled. "Who's this from?" she asked, looking around the room to find no indications that anyone there had sent it.

"Maybe you have a secret admirer," Jenny said excitedly.

Serena shrugged and smiled. Dan had a feeling it wouldn't be her first secret admirer. She opened the lid of the box, then quickly threw the lid back on and pushed the box away in horror.

"What?" Dan asked, opening the lid back up and peering in. "Oh," he said, seeing it filled with sex toys and porn.

"Serena," Lily scolded. "Who are you seeing right now?"

"No one, Mom, I swear," Serena said, looking ashamed. "Someone's just playing a sick joke."

"Daniel, would you kindly dispose of the box," Lily suggested.

"It would be my pleasure," Dan said, then blushed as he realized what he'd said. "I mean, uh, not like that...but I'll throw it away, because it's trash."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, and Dan snatched the box up to throw it away as Serena stalked into her room.

When Dan returned to the apartment, his dad, Lily and Jenny were sitting in the living room. "Daniel, we'd like to speak to you and Jenny alone for a minute," Lily said.

Puzzled, Dan sat on the couch next to Jenny while his dad and Lily sat in armchairs facing them.

"What's going on?" Dan asked.

His father cleared his throat. "Given your new living situation, we were thinking you two might have some questions about money."

"I don't understand," Dan said, confused. He was pretty sure that he and Jenny weren't going to be paying rent, and likely that his dad wasn't either.

"What your father is trying to say, Daniel, is that we understand that you and Jenny haven't had the same resources growing up as Serena and Eric," Lily said. "I know this might cause some conflict in the house."

Dan shrugged and he noticed Jenny fidget in anticipation of what was coming next. He could almost see the dollar signs bugging out of her eyes.

"Lily offered to give you kids each an expense account like Serena and Eric have, but I was concerned about what would happen if you suddenly get too much at once when you're not used to it," his dad said. "So, we reached a compromise: we're giving you each an account where we'll deposit $750 at the beginning of each month for the next six months. If you show you can handle the responsibility, then we'll explore giving you a larger, lump sum."

Dan couldn't fathom spending anywhere near $750 in a month, but he noticed his sister looked disappointed.

"Dad, we can totally handle more than that. Have you seen these girls at my school? They spend $750 a month on brunch," Jenny complained.

"Well, you're not them," their father said. "You weren't raised like those other girls, and I don't want you to forget the value of a dollar."

"So we just go to an elite private school and live in a penthouse, but we don't get to actually have money," Jenny pouted.

Dan noticed that Lily was remaining silent. He had a feeling Lily had wanted to give them far more.

"Jen, it's not like Dad's telling you to go work at McDonald's after school," Dan tried to reason. "This is a lot of money for a high schooler, and a whole lot more than the twenty bucks a week he was giving us for chores."

"You don't understand, it's different for girls," Jenny said before she stood up and stormed to her room, leaving Dan sitting in awkward silence with Lily and his dad.

"Rufus, it really is harder on girls," Lily said, rubbing his father's arm. "You should see Serena's Amex bill."

"Thanks for the...allowance," Dan said, standing up. "I'm going to go check on Serena and Jenny."

Dan walked down the hall and knocked on Serena's door first. "It's Dan," he said, making sure she knew it wasn't her mom.

"Come in," Serena said tersely.

Dan leaned against the doorframe with door open. "So, that was some gift," he said conversationally.

"I'm really not seeing anyone," Serena said defensively. "And if I were, I'm really not into that stuff."

"I didn't say anything," Dan said, raising his hands in surrender. "Do you have any idea who would have sent it?"

Serena shook her head. "I can only think of one person who is gross enough to think this is funny, but I don't know why he would do this now."

Dan instantly knew who she was talking about. "You think Chuck sent this?"

Serena shrugged. "I don't know. He has been bugging me about becoming too good since I came back and started hanging out with you."

Dan could think of some other reasons, one of which wasn't even his own secret to tell. He was pretty sure Lily wouldn't appreciate it if he told Serena about her relationship with Bart Bass. Dan thought Chuck might just be trying to irritate Serena to disrupt their new household. It was also possible that Chuck was irritating Serena as a way to get to Dan. Of course, Chuck could have sent the gift just because he was bored.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Dan offered.

Serena laughed. "I can handle Chuck," she said. "I have a feeling you want your fists to do the talking."

"Punching Chuck is one of my favorite hobbies," Dan joked.

"I'll keep that in mind," Serena said. "I'm just going to ignore it for now. If he's just trying to get a rise out of me, ignoring him will work best."

"Well, if you need my help..." Dan said, grinning.

"I know where to find you," Serena said, returning his smile.

Leaving Serena's room and closing the door, he looked toward Jenny's door and sighed. He could hear muffled voices coming from the inside, and he realized she was talking to Eric. Trying not to feel like he was being replaced, Dan decided to leave her be for the night.

When Dan arrived at school the next day, he was immediately approached by a smiling Nate Archibald. "So, you ready for practice tonight?" Nate asked. "I hope you're in good shape, because it's going to be a tough one."

Dan was most decidedly _not_ in good shape. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I hope there's no bizarre hazing rituals for the new guy," Dan said, feeling anxious about the whole thing.

"Nothing like that. We're too short on guys to risk injury anyhow," Nate said, then beamed at him expectantly. "You are still coming, right?"

Despite his doubts, Dan didn't have it in him to disappoint Nate when he looked so enthusiastic. "Of course, man," Dan said. "I can't guarantee that I will survive the first practice though."

Before Nate could respond, both of them were momentarily distracted by voices on the other side of the quad. Dan looked over to see Blair and Serena walk in, Blair the target of direct dairy product hits.

"That's cold, man," Nate said, shaking his head. "I'm still kind of pissed that Blair cheated on me, but she doesn't deserve that."

"Aren't those her friends?" Dan asked, confused.

Nate shrugged. "Serena's her friend. The rest will turn on you at the first sign of weakness," Nate said, pausing a beat. "Hey, isn't that your sister?"

Dan felt his shoulders slump. "The one with the really good aim? Yep, that's her," he sighed.

"Sorry, man," Nate said, giving him an affectionate slap on the back. "I'm sure she's not like those other girls."

"She's not," Dan said decisively, not sure who he was trying to convince. "I'll see you tonight at practice. I think I need to go talk to my sister."

"Good luck," Nate told him.

Luckily, Jenny was alone so he could speak to her privately. He approached her, feeling more frustrated the more he thought about the scene he'd just witnessed. "Jen, what the hell was that about? Since when do you throw yogurt at people?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like you're so perfect."

"This isn't about me. This is about you trying to humiliate Blair just because everyone else is," Dan said, the disappointment evident in his voice. "Does this really make you happy?"

"Blair doesn't need you to fight her battles," Jenny said. "She does perfectly fine on her own."

"This isn't about Blair," Dan said, confused by Jenny's deflections.

"Whatever," Jenny said dismissively. "Just because you don't care if you're an outcast doesn't mean I want to live my life that way."

"Can't you have friends and not sell your soul?"

Jenny shrugged. "If you have any suggestions, let me know," she said flippantly. With that, she stalked away to meet up with her friends, likely to congratulate themselves on knocking Blair down a peg or two.

After school, Dan was grateful for soccer. Even though Nate wasn't lying about the degree of difficulty, it provided a nice distraction from everything else. It also was an excuse to avoid going home. Because of this, Dan enthusiastically accepted Nate's invitation to go out to dinner with some of the guys on the team. Dan had to admit that it was nice to just hang out with a group of guys. He hadn't done that since...well, ever.

Near the end of dinner, Dan's phone buzzed. He looked down to see he had a text from Blair. Luckily, Nate was distracted by the other guys so he was able to discreetly read it without Nate noticing. The message was pretty much the same one he'd received last time.

_I want to see you. Offer is valid for a half hour._

Dan felt a little ashamed by how just how much he wanted to sprint out of the restaurant to see Blair, especially with Nate sitting right there.

"So, man, I've gotta run," Dan said. "How much do I owe for dinner?"

"Nothing, this is your welcome dinner. Go on to your booty call," Nate grinned at him. "Who's the lucky girl?" A few of the other guys made appreciative noises. Dan felt himself blushing, not used to hanging out with other guys like this and the accompanying locker room talk.

"Sadly, it's nothing like that," Dan said. "I have to study for the SATs."

Nate laughed. "I saw you get a text message and then practically bolt out of your chair," he said. "Go have fun _studying_."

Several other guys laughed too, shooting smirks and making teasing noises at Dan as he left. Properly chagrined, Dan slumped out of the restaurant. He supposed the teasing was a sign that he was fitting in, at least.

He felt guilty about lying to Nate to sneak off with Blair, but he also really wanted to talk to Blair and see how she was coping. He felt bad about what she was going through, knowing it was partially his fault for kissing her. It didn't help that his sister was rubbing salt in the wound.

This time when he entered Blair's penthouse, he confidently walked right up the stairs to her room, where he found the door partially open. He knocked lightly to announce his presence before pushing the door open, mentally trying to prepare himself for what he wanted to say. Unfortunately, all those thoughts immediately abandoned him the moment he saw Blair, who was sitting on her bed wearing some sort of negligee. She patted the bed beside her.

"I know you probably want to _talk_," she said disdainfully. "But I've had a really crappy first day back and I don't want to talk about it."

Dan did want to talk, but he was still having a hard time formulating words. He kind of hated himself for how easy he was. "You can't tell me that _this_ isn't a booty call," he finally said.

"It's a _seduction_," Blair corrected. "Now come over here and be seduced."

Grinning, Dan did as he was told, sitting on the bed beside her, but not making any move to touch her.

"What is your problem? I don't have all night," she complained.

"I'm waiting to be seduced," he said in a mock serious tone, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Surely you didn't think a text message and lingerie was all you needed?"

He knew she was growing increasingly irritated with him, but alarmingly, he was finding that to be something of a turn-on. They sat on the bed in silence for a full minute before Blair finally hit him in the face with a pillow. Dan couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you making this so hard?" she pouted. "I'm sure I could find someone else willing to be seduced."

"I'm sure you could," Dan agreed. "But for some reason you invited me. Just admit that you want me, and I'm yours."

"Never," Blair said, narrowing her eyes at him. He reached a hand over and tickled her rib cage. She slapped his hand away and straddled him, unable to hide her smile. She leaned forward and kissed him, and Dan immediately responded, unable to maintain the tease.

"They do say actions speak louder than words," Dan said when they broke apart. Before she could get in the last word, he kissed her again, slowly leaning her backwards onto the bed.

Surprisingly, she didn't push him out the door afterwards. Instead, she rested her head on his chest as he stroked her back.

"So, what are you up to tomorrow?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Unfortunately, I can't be at your beck and call tomorrow," he said, grinning. "I have soccer again, and... uh...I might be doing something for my sister's birthday," he finished hesitantly, realizing he might have stepped into a potential minefield.

"It's okay, you can mention Jenny around me," Blair said. "You still don't know what her birthday plans are?"

"The plan is for her to go out with her friends, but my dad wants us all on standby to try and squeeze in a family moment," he said, not sure how much she really wanted to know.

"What did you used to do as a family?"

Dan was surprised by the question, but he smiled fondly at the memories. "My dad used to write a song for her every year, which he'd sing as we ate cake," Dan told her, quickly getting caught up in his own story. "She loved it up until she was twelve, then when she was thirteen she cut my dad off the second he lifted up his guitar and said she was too old. So, that was that."

"So you're booked all day tomorrow?" she asked, pulling him out of the memory.

He leaned his head down and kissed her lightly. "I'm afraid so. You'll have to go find one of those other guys to seduce," he said lightly, grinning as she gave his chest a light slap.

On his way home from soccer practice, Dan went to Bendel's to pick up a gift certificate for Jenny, figuring she would return anything he picked out anyhow. He had decided he would give her a generous portion of his new monthly allowance, knowing he was unlikely to come close to spending it all anyhow. He needed to have a gift ready when he got home, as his father had worked out a compromise with Jenny wherein she would unwrap gifts with the family before leaving to meet her friends.

After swiping his card, the salesclerk looked at him coldly. "You have insufficient funds," she said haughtily, eyeing his soccer attire suspiciously.

"That's impossible," Dan said, confused. He hadn't bought so much as a cup of coffee from that account.

"Do you have another card?"

Dan sighed. "No, it must be a mistake," he said, wondering if he had managed to screw up the activation. "I'll have to come back later."

When he got home, he saw the gifts all neatly stacked on the coffee table in the living room.

"You're home," his father said cheerfully. "Just add your gift to the pile and tell your sister we're ready for her."

"Unfortunately, I had some issues with my debit card so I have no gift," Dan said. "I'll have to take her shopping later this week or something."

"That's strange. We'll have to call the bank," his father said. "Why don't you go ahead and grab Jenny, and I'll round up everyone else."

Dan found Jenny's door open when he approached, so entered to find her appraising herself in the mirror.

"You look real nice, Jen," Dan said. "I'm really sorry I don't have a gift for you; for some reason my card declined."

"It did? Have you called the bank yet?" Jenny fiddled with her dress a bit more, appearing nervous.

"I'll do it tomorrow," Dan said. "Don't look so nervous. These are your friends, right?"

"It's just a big night," Jenny sighed.

Dan grinned. "Happy birthday, by the way," he said warmly. He noticed something sticking up in the back of Jenny's dress. "Hey, it appears you have a tag still. Do you want me to cut it out for you?"

"No, I'll take care of it," Jenny said. "You scare too easily to be trusted around scissors and nice dresses."

Dan rolled his eyes. "All right, because it's your birthday I'll let you get away with that one," he said teasingly. "Come on out and open your presents. Again, I feel terrible you don't have anything from me."

"Really, it's okay," Jenny said, abruptly giving him a hug. Dan hugged her back, his eyes getting embarrassingly misty. He couldn't believe his sister was 15 years old and looking so grown up. She was also being surprisingly mature about his lack of a gift.

After opening her presents, Jenny practically bolted out the door to meet her friends. Before any of the rest of them could leave, his father spoke.

"Are you guys going to Jenny's party tonight?"

Dan shook his head. "She doesn't want her big brother there ruining her big night."

"I don't know if that's true," his father said. "At her age, I know it's an internal battle choosing between your friends and your family. If you three went, it might show her she can have both."

Dan looked at Serena out of the corner of his eye, who shrugged in response, as her family life had been far different than his and Jenny's.

"I don't know Dad..." he said skeptically.

"Just go for a bit," his dad prodded. "If she doesn't want you there, you can leave."

His dad left the room so they could discuss it further amongst themselves. It still seemed like a bad idea to Dan, but maybe Jenny had expressed some sentiment to his father that he wasn't aware of. Dan turned to Serena and Eric.

"What do you guys think? Should we go for awhile?"

"Why not?" Serena said. "You do know the festivities got moved to some night club, right? I just want to make sure you're prepared." Serena and Eric both smirked at him, remembering the scene he created when he felt both Blair and Jenny were being threatened the last time he went to a club.

"I'll keep my white knight hat at home," he promised. "Though I'll be watching you, should you decide to set off any club-wide champagne toasts," he teased back.

"That wasn't me today at school," Serena pouted. "My mom doesn't believe me, but I swear it must be Chuck again."

"So ignoring him isn't working?" Dan asked.

"It appears not," Serena sighed. "I still don't want your fists involved in this either."

"Is there anyone I can beat up for you, Eric? Bonus points if you say Chuck Bass."

Eric shook his head. "Fortunately, I stay out of the drama for the most part."

"Smart man," Dan said sincerely, patting Eric affectionately on the back.

When they got to the club about an hour later, Dan turned sheepishly to Serena and Eric. "Could you guys front me the cover charge? I'm afraid to use my card today after the icy glare I faced at Bendel's."

"No need," Eric said, turning to them after talking to bouncer. "Apparently someone put us on the list and paid our covers."

"Maybe Jenny really did want her family here," Serena said brightly.

When they got inside, Jenny was surrounded by her friends. He held back, still not sure how much interaction Jenny would want. He felt Serena nudge him.

"Why would Blair be escorting your dad to the stage?" Serena asked, pointing him toward the front of the club. His eyes widened in horror, the puzzle pieces coming together. It was too late to do anything to stop what was about to happen. All Dan could hope is that it wouldn't be as bad as he feared.

He watched his father sling his guitar over his shoulder and approach the microphone. "I'm Rufus Humphrey, lead singer of Lincoln Hawk if you remember," his father said. "Most importantly, I am Jenny Humphrey's father. Jenny, do you want to come up on stage?"

Dan saw Blair smile smugly and step down from the stage to fetch Jenny. Jenny let Blair drag her by the arm, looking like she was in shock.

Once Jenny was safely on stage, his father continued. "Someone today told me that teenage girls struggle with choosing between their friends and family during big life events. I wanted to show my daughter that she can have both," his father said sincerely, apparently thinking Jenny's wide eyes were an expression of joy and not embarrassment. His father strummed a chord. "Jenny, this song's for you. It's the song I wrote for your thirteenth birthday that you didn't let me sing."

"What is this?" Eric asked, looking as horrified as Dan felt.

"It's Blair Waldorf," Dan said, feeling both angry and sad, the anger winning out at that moment.

"Dan..." Serena said sympathetically, grabbing his arm. "I know you guys have become friends. You have to know this has nothing to do with you."

Dan nodded blankly, wishing it were true.

After his father crooned out the final, horrifying line, "_Jenny, you'll always be my little girl,"_ Dan erroneously thought it couldn't get any worse. He should have known to never underestimate Blair.

Blair walked on stage holding a champagne bottle, and Dan noticed champagne being doled out around them. Behind her two men rolled out a gigantic cake with a sparkler. Upon further inspection, Dan saw Jenny's face was emblazoned on the cake.

"Your dad did know I was joking about the cake, right?" Eric asked him, looking concerned.

"My dad's been around me enough to detect sarcasm," Dan reassured him. "This is all Blair." Serena just squeezed his arm, not having any defense for Blair.

Blair put her arm around Jenny and approached the microphone. "Happy birthday, Jenny!" Blair said cheerfully, shaking the champagne bottle slightly before opening it, dousing Jenny with champagne. Jenny looked like she was going to cry.

"Oh, I see you have a tag," Blair said conversationally. "Let me get that for you; it's not like you can return the dress now."

Looking at his sister's panicked face, suddenly Dan knew what had happened to his missing funds. While he was livid with Blair, he felt sad about the desperate steps his sister was taking to get ahead.

Blair continued to smirk on the stage, then her smile disappeared when she spotted the three of them. Dan glowered at her, and her eyes momentarily welled with tears when they caught his. The moment passed quickly, and Blair had her game face back on almost immediately.

"To Jenny!" Blair said, raising the champagne bottle in a toast, then handing it to Jenny and leaving the stage. Jenny looked down at the other girls, and saw they were all either laughing at her or looking bored. He saw Penelope and Hazel confer for a moment, then leave the club. The others followed behind without a word. Jenny ran to the backstage area, presumably to be alone.

Blair tentatively approached them. "You guys weren't supposed to be here," she said as though that were a defense.

"Blair," Serena said disapprovingly.

"I tried to be nice like you said, and that just got me humiliated at Butter," she said defensively. "Jenny started it."

"I'm going to go find Jenny," Eric said, leaving the three of them alone.

"I'll be there in a minute," Dan told him before shifting his glare back to Blair.

"Jenny's trying to take me down. I can't let her do that just because of who her father's marrying," Blair pleaded to Serena. "You told me you'd stick with me through all of this. You knew the other girls would turn as soon as there was a chink in my armor."

"B, I think this is between you and Dan. You know I want you two to be friends," she said, sighing. "I'm going home. I hope you two can work this out."

After giving Blair a quick hug, Serena left. Dan had to admire her ability to never be fully involved in any of the machinations around her.

"Dan..." Blair started hesitantly. The club had cleared out, and Dan walked her over to the corner where they could speak privately.

Dan interrupted her immediately, holding up a hand to get her to stop talking. "Just tell me something: did you have sex with me last night so you could get information out of me?"

Blair's eyes widened, and she looked taken aback by the question. "No, of course not..." Blair stammered. He wasn't sure if she even knew what the truth was.

Dan sighed, his anger turning to sadness. "It doesn't really matter, I guess," he said, resigned. "Either way, you used both me and my father in a scheme to humiliate my sister."

"It's not like your sister is innocent here," Blair protested. "I know you think she's all sugar and spice, but she's devious too. It's all just a game."

"I just feel so stupid," Dan said, the hurt beginning to seep out. "I thought when we were in bed that you were genuinely interested in my childhood, that you were genuinely interested in _me_. I should have known when you suddenly wanted to talk that you had an agenda."

"It wasn't like that, really," Blair said pleadingly.

"Blair, you specifically wanted to know about my whereabouts so you could make sure you got my father alone," he reminded her. "This was your version of pillow talk. Excuse me if I feel used."

"Quit acting like we were dating," Blair snapped. "You know it was just sex between us, but you just think you're above a friends with benefits arrangement so you romanticize everything. You have to know I could never openly date you."

Dan leaned forward, invading her personal space. "Well, consider that arrangement over," he said angrily into her ear. "I know now that I don't want to be friends with you."

With that, they both did an angry about face and stalked off in different directions. Blair flounced off to the exit, and Dan went to find his sister.

He found Jenny still backstage, slumped against Eric. "Can we have a few minutes alone?" Dan asked Eric.

"Go on home," Jenny said to Eric. "Dan and I will see you there in a little while."

"We're totally eating that cake when we get back," Eric said.

Jenny smiled through her tears. "Only if I get to eat my eyes."

"You have a deal," Eric said, giving Jenny an affectionate squeeze before standing up. "See you guys at home."

Dan slumped down to the ground where Eric had been sitting, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Jenny didn't lean into him like she had with Eric, instead sitting ramrod straight.

"Dan, I have to tell you something," Jenny said timidly, staring straight ahead.

"I figured out that you stole from me," Dan said, still not quite believing that it had come to this. "Why didn't you just ask me for the loan?"

"I was going to return the dress," Jenny said sheepishly. "I thought the money would be back before you'd notice. I only borrowed five hundred...I didn't think your card would decline because you never spend much money."

Dan laughed mirthlessly. "Well, don't worry about paying me back. I was going to give you a $500 gift certificate to Bendel's for your birthday. I couldn't think of a better use for my newfound wealth than to do something nice for your birthday."

Now Jenny did slump against him, and Dan took the opportunity to pull her closer. "I'm so sorry," Jenny said. "I know you're disappointed in me."

"You know Jen, I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to become a UES cyborg like those other girls. You have so much more to offer than those girls; I just wish you realized it," he said, his mind jumping back to Blair momentarily. It killed him that Blair seemed to fight tooth and nail just like his sister, because even though he was mad at her he knew that Blair had so much more to offer than the Hazels of the world, just like his sister did. He placed a gentle kiss on Jenny's forehead before moving to stand up.

"You ready to go home?" he asked, offering his hand. Jenny stared at him thoughtfully for a moment before letting him help her stand.

"You know what, I still kind of feel like celebrating with my brother and my friends. Everyone went to Butter; why don't you invited Nate so it won't just be you and a bunch of girls?"

Dan was taken aback by her complete one-eighty, but decided he'd take it at face value. He couldn't figure out what her hidden agenda could be. He promptly texted Nate, who said he'd meet them in a half hour.

Dan wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Nate says he's in. Let's go celebrate," he said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Before we go, thanks for being here for me," Jenny told him sincerely. "I hope I'm not causing problems for you with Serena...and Blair," she finished hesitantly.

"You're my sister. I will always be here for you," Dan said. "Serena is staying neutral in your war with Blair, and as for Blair...I guess we were friendly because of Serena, but now we're not."

"Are you sure?" Jenny asked questioningly. Dan wasn't sure why she was so curious about Blair, though he figured maybe he wasn't as discreet as he thought when they'd spoken on the phone. He was thinking the real walls might indeed improve his life.

"I'm completely sure. Blair and I are not friends," Dan said firmly.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's notes: Sorry this one took so long. It's a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope it moves things forward satisfactorily and sets things up as we head into the home stretch. (Three chapters, plus maybe an epilogue to go!) The next chapter will be chock full of movement, as I have a twist coming that I've been looking forward to writing since I started. I think that's why I got so delayed on this chapter. Anyhow, I hope you still enjoy this one, as it's hard to make studying for the SATs too exciting. Let me know what you think, as I really appreciate the feedback. **_

Dan had been a good student his whole life. He felt he was blessed with a strong intellect, and he had been a voracious reader for as long as he could remember. While it wasn't his favorite, he still excelled in his math classes through hard work and perseverance, knowing his Ivy League dreams rested on him finishing near the top of his class.

However, even with all of his hard work and knowledge, he was horrible at standardized tests. He couldn't take the time pressure. He would get indecisive, caught between to answers. His pulse would race, he could feel sweat pooling on his forward, and he felt like he was going to crack his pencil in two. He had never excelled under pressure, and practice tests were showing him that the SAT was likely not going to be exception to this rule.

Sighing, Dan stood up and walked into the kitchen, clutching his coffee mug like a lifeline. In the kitchen, he found Serena with a similar objective, though Serena was smarter. She had a thermos in hand, clearly ready to study through the night.

"Hey," he said tiredly. "Great minds think alike."

"I could probably use your great mind when I take this test," Serena sighed.

Dan laughed humorlessly. "I really don't think it's my mind you want for this. I crack under pressure."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating," Serena protested, filling his coffee cup for him. He smiled in thanks.

"I'm really, really not," Dan lamented. "You've seen what happens when I try to make a good first impression, right? That's about how I fair on standardized tests."

He saw a look of realization cross Serena's face, and she grimaced in sympathy. "That bad, huh?"

Dan laughed. "Yep, that bad. That's why I'm studying as much as I physically can, even though I feel like I should know more of this stuff without studying so hard."

"Do you want to try and drill vocab words tomorrow night? I'm doing math practice tests tonight, but I could use the vocab work," Serena offered.

"That would be nice," Dan said sincerely. He liked the thought of having a study partner, and Serena had a relaxing effect on him. "Misery loves company, right?"

"Exactly," Serena said, screwing on the lid to her thermos.

"Back to algebraic equations," Dan said, slumping his shoulders. "Have fun tonight."

"You too," Serena told him, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back as he walked back to his room.

The next day, Dan dragged himself to the kitchen in search of coffee. He appreciated the irony of the coffee being the reason he didn't sleep last night, but his salvation to get through the day on limited rest. He really couldn't wait until Sunday when the SATs were over.

"How's the studying going?" Jenny asked sympathetically.

Dan took a long drink from his coffee before answering. "About as well as could be expected, I guess," he grumbled. "You know how I do under pressure."

Suddenly, the whole family was in the kitchen, which only served to put Dan more on edge.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," his dad tried to reassure him.

"You do remember the T-ball incident, don't you?" Dan asked plaintively. "I struck out, remember? And the ball wasn't even moving."

"You struck out in T-ball?" Eric chortled, and Serena poked him in the ribs.

"It's okay to mock me," Dan said. "You can mock me again when I get my SAT scores."

"Do you need a tutor, Daniel?" Lily offered.

"Thanks for the offer," Dan said politely. "But I think I just need to keep studying. Serena and I are going to study together tonight, right?" He smiled at Serena to confirm they were still on, who nodded in return.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the family attention, Dan took off for school. When he arrived, he saw a very relaxed looking Nate coming down the stairs dressed in his soccer clothes.

"You do know the SATs are on Saturday, right? Do you not need to study?" Dan asked, feeling freaked out by Nate's seeming disregard for such an important date. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Okay, whatever you do has no effect on me. Sorry, I'm just freaking out a bit."

"Performance anxiety, huh?" Nate asked with a small grin.

"You could say that," Dan said, sighing.

As Nate sauntered off without a care in the world, Dan felt himself tense up even further when he saw Blair standing across the quad. Since their "breakup", for lack of a better word, Dan tried to studiously ignore her. Whenever he saw her, he had to work hard not to stare, as his traitorous body liked to remind him that he was still very much attracted to her. He would think about the surprised look on her face when he suggested that she slept with him to get information, and how sad she'd seemed when he'd first gotten mad at her. Then he remembered her own harsh words, not to mention her actions that he still hadn't forgiven her for, and he felt his resolve return. After all, she had said they couldn't ever publicly date, so what was the point in lusting after her? He just wished he could stop staring at her every time he saw her.

Blair caught his eye, and felt his cheeks redden slightly, but he didn't look away. Blair shot him an unreadable grin then turned back to the crowd of girls standing behind her, a crowd which included his sister standing in the outskirts, looking like she desperately wanted to be included.

After school, Dan couldn't take the atmosphere at home. He was feeling nostalgic, so he trekked to a coffeehouse he and Vanessa used to frequent in Brooklyn, back before Dan's life became so complicated. He ordered a coffee and hunkered down with his study materials.

He immersed himself in vocab flashcards, wanting to be in good shape when he and Serena studied that evening. He was so engrossed in his studies that he didn't even notice someone had sat down across from him.

"Dan?" a male voice said, startling him out of his revelry. If nothing else, he was able to maintain focus.

"Nate?" Dan asked, surprised to see Nate sitting on the other side of the table. "What are you doing here?"

Nate smiled easily, and plopped a huge stack of books on the table. "I tracked you down via Gossip Girl," Nate explained. Dan often forgot he remained on the radar, and was perhaps a permanent fixture now that he and Serena were practically family. "I saw how nervous you looked this morning, and I took every SAT prep course in the five boroughs so I could get my scores high enough for USC. I got the scores I needed, so I thought you might be able to use them."

"Thank you so much, man," Dan said appreciatively, looking at the books like they were a life raft. He had almost finished his current practice book, and the bookstore would likely be sold out by now and it was too late to order online. "This was really nice of you. I can't believe you came all the way out to Brooklyn."

Nate shrugged. "My dad was in rehab near here, so I got to know the area pretty well," Nate said conversationally. "What are you doing back in Brooklyn?"

"I was just so tense about the SAT, and our apartment just doesn't feel like home," Dan said. "I just needed to return to the familiar, you know?"

"I imagine it's a bit different than what you're used to," Nate said with a knowing smile.

"Which part? Four teenagers under one roof? The high rise penthouse that I can't escape without going through the front door? Honestly, I miss the fire escape more than anything."

Nate laughed. "I'm sure it's not all bad," Nate said easily.

"Well, I'll admit I like my laundry magically being cleaned and put away for me," Dan conceded. "Plus, I hope to never go back to sharing a bathroom with Jenny."

"What did you do with your laundry before?" Nate asked, looking genuinely curious about middle-class living.

"There was this bucket on the fire escape..." Dan said teasingly. Nate rolled his eyes. "Sorry, force of habit. We had coin-operated machines in the basement of our building. That part wasn't so bad-it was always the folding that was the bigger pain. If you go to school in California, I'm sure your dorm will have something similar."

Nate's eyes grew wide at the thought, and he smiled. "It might be kind of cool."

"So, why California?" Dan asked.

Nate shrugged. "It's far away from here and sunny. Why not?"

Dan wondered to himself if Blair had known about Nate's desire to escape. He had a feeling Blair Waldorf would never have considered attending USC, and he knew that Nate likely knew that as well.

Dan shook off the thought, as it was really none of his business. Nate and Blair weren't together anymore, and Dan and Blair were never together to begin with.

"So, thanks again for the books," Dan said, giving Nate a sincere smile. "I also appreciate the delivery service. This is above and beyond, seriously."

"No problem," Nate said, looking almost embarrassed by Dan's gratitude. "I'll leave you to your studies. Good luck, man."

"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it," Dan sighed, eyeing the pile of books in front of him.

That night, Dan hung out in his room waiting for Serena to knock on his door. They had tentatively agreed to study together after dinner, but Serena hadn't been home for dinner. She had texted him to say she'd gotten tied up with a friend but would be home soon. That was an hour ago.

Jenny had mentioned something about Blair outbidding her to host the girls for a study session, so Dan thought maybe Serena was there. It seemed odd that Serena hadn't named Blair specifically when she texted him, but it was possible that Serena was avoiding the Blair subject because she knew that they weren't "friends" anymore. Dan was beginning to get worried about Serena. He had texted her 15 minutes ago, and she hadn't replied. It was really unlike her.

Feeling concerned, Dan looked at his phone and grimaced. He knew what would set his mind at ease. Slowly, he picked up his phone and dialed Blair's number. He was legitimately surprised when she actually answered.

"Humphrey, what do you want?" she said tersely by way of greeting. Dan felt his tongue go numb, and he couldn't think of anything to say for what seemed like a year, but in reality was probably around 30 seconds. "I'm going to hang up if you don't speak. Your breathing is creeping me out."

Properly chagrined, Dan found the power of speech again. "Hey, sorry to bother you when I'm sure you're studying," Dan started, as though there was no tension between them at all. "But is Serena with you? We were supposed to study tonight, and she's running really late and didn't answer my text. She said she was with a friend, so I figured it was probably you."

There was a pause on the other end, and Dan wondered if he'd said the wrong thing.

"Serena's not with me," Blair said stiffly, giving nothing away. "I imagine she found a more desirable study partner."

Dan sighed. It appeared they were back to square one, though he supposed he shouldn't have expected anything else after he ended their friendship, or whatever it was that they were.

"Okay," Dan said finally. "I'm just a little worried. This isn't really like her."

"It's not like the Serena you know," Blair said, a tinge of sadness in her voice. Dan had heard a lot of these remarks from everyone, including Serena herself. He was distantly aware of who she had been, but he could only base his opinion on the person he knew personally. That person wouldn't just blow him off like this.

"If you hear from her, please have her call me," Dan finally said, knowing his voice sounded tense. "I'm just worried."

"Fine," Blair sighed. "Can I get back to my studying?"

Dan really did hate the tension between him and Blair, though he was still angry as well. Even when she was skeptical of him at the begining, they had more of a natural rapport than they had now.

"Yeah. Have a good night," Dan said, resigned. Blair hung up without a goodbye.

After waiting another half hour, Dan had tried calling Serena twice and texted her three times. Finally, his phone rang, the caller ID showing a call from the Palace Hotel.

"Hello?" Dan said uncertainly. He only knew one person who would be calling from the Palace.

"So, Serena isn't going to be able to make your little study date," Chuck drawled on the other end of the line.

Dan clenched his fists, the sound of Chuck's voice sending a flash of anger through his whole body. Between studying, Blair, and the new family situation, he was tense enough as it was to not add Chuck Bass to the mix.

"Let me talk to her," Dan spit out.

"I'm afraid she has food poisoning and is otherwise occupied, so she can't come to the phone," Chuck said, clearly enjoying Dan's anger. "You should _study_ with Blair instead."

"I don't believe you," Dan said, already tired of the game. "Put Serena on."

"Humphrey, you really should remember I'm guarding a big secret of yours," Chuck reminded him smugly.

"As I told you before, tell whoever the hell you want," Dan said, feeling frustrated. In reality, he dreaded both Nate and Serena finding out. He was also tired of Chuck lording it over him, not to mention his own sense of guilt over sneaking around with Blair. The funny thing was, Chuck didn't even know the whole story and was still driving him up the wall.

"Nice try with the false bravado, Brooklyn," Chuck laughed. Dan didn't bother to remind him that the "Brooklyn" nickname was meaningless now, largely because Dan wished he still lived in Brooklyn most of the time, preferably back before life got so complicated. "Anyhow, I've said what I wanted to say and I'm bored. So, goodbye Humphrey."

With that, Dan found himself staring at his phone. He still didn't believe Chuck, but he didn't really have very many options at this stage. Feeling a bit like an overprotective parent, he grabbed his books and went into Serena's room to wait her out.

Dan must have dozed off, because he was startled awake when Serena's door opened and he heard a small gasp. "What are you doing here, Dan?" Serena asked, sounding angry and confused.

"I was worried about you," Dan explained. "I didn't believe Chuck when he said you had food poisoning. What happened to you tonight?"

Observing her, she didn't look very good. Her hair was messy and her eyes were bloodshot. She was a bit wobbly on her feet, so Dan jumped off the bed to help her, feeling a bit guilty for doubting her. It seemed she might have had food poisoning based on her current appearance.

However, when he reached her and grabbed her arm, he was hit with the truth. Serena wasn't sick; she was drunk.

"You've been out _drinking_ tonight? With _Chuck_?" Dan could hear how harsh his words sounded, but he was really taken aback.

"Not all of us are as perfect as you," Serena snapped. Dan held back his sigh, once again hating himself for keeping secrets as he just felt like a hypocrite all the time.

"I'm not perfect, Serena," Dan said softly. "And that's not the point anyhow. I was just worried about you, and I still am."

He slowly walked her to the bed, where they both sat down on the edge, each of them studying the ground. Suddenly, Serena began to cry, and Dan reached an arm around her to comfort her. Immediately, Serena curled into his side.

"I'm just trying so hard," Serena said. Dan felt a sense of deja vu, remembering that first night with Blair. Their words and actions had been eerily similar, but Dan knew the outcome would have to be different unless he wanted to complicate his life on an entirely new level.

"I know," Dan said simply, hoping Serena would continue talking. Serena sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you for being here," she finally said. "This new living situation has been hard. And then there's the SATs, and just trying to show my mom I've changed. Plus, there's..." Serena trailed off, without finishing her thought.

"What? What else is going on?" Dan asked concerned. "Is it Chuck? Is he still trying to make you into the person you were before?"

After a momentary pause, Serena nodded. "Yeah, it's Chuck. He really misses how we used to hang out before I came back, but I really don't want to be that person again," Serena said, looking lost. "I slipped up tonight, and I don't know if I can keep resisting."

"You can," Dan said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I know everyone tells me I don't know the real you, but I don't think that's true. I think this strong person who is trying to better herself is the real you. You can take on Chuck Bass, or anyone for that matter."

"Thank you, Dan," Serena said, looking genuinely touched. "Tomorrow, I'm going to tell...Chuck that I have people like you in my life now who are helping me change, and that I'm really done with the way I used to live."

Dan had his doubts that Chuck could be convinced so easily, but he wasn't going to rain on Serena's parade. She already looked far better than she had when she entered the room.

Dan slowly stood up from the bed and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Whatever you need, I'm here," he told her sincerely.

Serena smiled wistfully at him. "Thank you for believing in me," she said, looking sad.

"Always," Dan said quietly from the doorway.

The day of the SAT, Dan woke up from a restless sleep in desperate need of coffee before he could take the test. He wandered into the kitchen, eyes blurry with sleep, figuring he'd drink a cup of coffee before he showered, then probably return for a second cup to be super focused for the test. He also knew it could just make him more anxious, but he decided it was a risk he was willing to take.

He was surprised to find Lily already up and dressed, fixing herself some coffee.

"G'morning," Dan mumbled, still not quite coherent.

Lily smiled fondly at him. "Not a morning person, huh?"

Dan smiled in return. "Not really, plus I'm nervous about the SAT. I just need coffee."

Lily grabbed a mug and poured him a cup, handing it to him. "You ready? I know you and Serena have both been working so hard."

Dan shrugged. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be," he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. While they had all been living together for several weeks now, he could count on one hand the number of private conversations he and Lily had engaged in. Plus, he knew enough to know that Lily was probably angling for something.

"So Serena sent me a text message saying that she was spending the night with a friend last night," Lily said. "Do you have any idea who the friend is?"

"You don't think it's Blair?" Dan asked, feeling anxious.

"She would usually just tell me if it was Blair," Lily said, echoing Dan's thoughts from the previous evening.

"It was probably Blair, and she was just distracted because she was studying so hard," Dan said, trying to convince himself as much as Lily.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it, Daniel," Lily said, sounding unconvinced. Normally, Dan would be sad that Lily still had so little faith in Serena, but he was beginning to wonder if Lily's concerns had some merit.

"I guess I'd better go get ready," Dan said, motioning to the kitchen door.

"Of course. Good luck today, Daniel," Lily said, giving him an encouraging smile that seemed genuine.

"Thank you," Dan said sincerely.

Right after he signed in for the test, Dan ran almost smack into Blair.

"Hey," he said, looking down at the ground. "You ready?"

"Of course I am," she said brusquely. She paused, then her voice sounded more hesitant. "How's Serena? She told me she had a migraine the other night, and she just stayed at some coffee shop for hours."

Dan felt alarm bells going off, as it sounded like Blair had followed up on Dan's concern and that Serena had lied to Blair.

"I haven't seen her today," Dan said honestly. "She texted Lily that she was staying at a friend's. I was hoping that friend was you."

"I'm sure she's already inside," Blair said as she looked around the room for Serena. "I'll go on in and save her a seat just in case."

"Yeah," Dan said despondently as Blair walked into the testing room. Dan was about to enter when he saw a redhead approach the registration table and say, "Hi, I'm Serena van der Woodsen."

Dan felt his heart sink, but there was nothing he could do. He just tried to shake all thoughts that didn't involve math and vocab and went into the testing room, feeling powerless.

After the test was over, Dan felt relief that at least this was done. Strangely, the fact that he was so distracted didn't hurt as much as he would have thought. It was like his racing thoughts about Serena kept him from letting his anxieties about the test overtake him.

He saw Blair in the hallway right as he exited. He walked over and lightly grabbed her arm.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" he asked, knowing he needed her help with Serena.

She looked down at where he was touching her, then looked at him questioningly. "Okay. Follow me," she said, walking away from the exit to the school, leading him far away from the testing classrooms.

"They usually don't lock the restrooms," Blair explained as she dragged him into a deserted girls' restroom, looking at him expectantly.

He felt strange being in the girls' restroom, and he wasn't quite sure where to begin with Blair. He really wanted her help, and knew she would be as worried about Serena as he was. However, they still had their own messed up dynamic to contend with.

When he didn't speak, a slow smile spread across Blair's face. "So, you didn't really want to _talk_, did you?"

Before Dan could decipher her meaning, Blair was kissing him, her hands tangled in his hair. Dan immediately kissed her back, his body on auto-pilot. After the stress of the last few days, it felt good to just lose himself in her for a few moments. His hands wrapped around her out of their own volition, and he felt himself press her into the wall so that he could get closer to her.

"I missed this," Blair sighed as he started to kiss her neck.

"Me too," he admitted, moving to explore her mouth again.

In the back of his head, he realized things were swiftly getting out of hand, but he didn't seem to have the power to stop.

"I can't believe we're doing this at school," Blair breathed into his ear. "Who knew you were such an exhibitionist?" She moved one hand down his chest, kissing him again. As her hand continued its downward path and reached his waist, Dan pulled away, suddenly cognizant of all the different reasons this was a terrible idea, not the least of which was that if they got caught, he would almost certainly be expelled after the swimming pool incident.

"Blair, I actually really wanted to talk to you about Serena," Dan said as he tried to regain his breath. Blair's arms immediately dropped to her sides and she moved several feet away from him.

"Oh," she said quietly. "So what was all that? I wasn't the only one participating."

Dan sighed, running a hand through his hair anxiously. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't still want you," Dan said honestly. "That doesn't mean that I'm not still angry or that it's a good idea for us to keep hooking up."

She crossed her arms over her chest protectively. Dan could almost see the the physical wall start to form in front of her. "Well, you also said we're not friends, yet here you are looking like you need my help," she said, raising her eyebrow.

Dan sighed. "I don't know what to say, Blair. It's not like you called me begging for my forgiveness," Dan reminded her. "You broke my trust. Maybe someday I'll feel I can trust you again, but it doesn't seem like you want to work for it. Right now, I just hope we can be civil with each other and try to help Serena with whatever she's going through."

"Don't you think you're overreacting? So she missed a study date and overslept for the SATs. There are other test dates," Blair said rationally, but he could see the worry in her eyes.

"First, she came home drunk the night she missed the study date after Chuck called and told me she had food poisoning," Dan said, noting the concerned look that was forming on Blair's face. "Second, I saw some petite redhead claim to be Serena van der Woodsen at the registration table."

Blair sighed, seemingly conceding his point. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure," Dan admitted. "I don't know enough to know if she just had a freak out about the SATs, or if there's something more happening. I just know that she said Chuck's been harassing her a lot about how he misses the old Serena. I suspect that's who she's with right now."

Blair nodded sadly. "You're probably right. I know Chuck was going to pay someone to take the test, so he probably just hired someone for Serena too."

"All I can think to do is confront her," Dan said, feeling lost. "Maybe if we put up a united front we can get through to her."

"What about Chuck?"

"Let him do his worst," Dan said, shrugging. "If he tells Serena about the kiss, he has nothing left to lord over us. It's really his last card right now."

"We could just deny it anyhow," Blair reasoned. "Who's she going to believe?"

"I'm done lying," Dan said firmly. "If we lie to her face, she'll really never forgive us when the truth comes out. Right now she would probably just be hurt, not angry."

"Fine," Blair huffed. "Let's just go over to Chuck's and get this over with."

When they arrived at Chuck's, Dan hesitated before knocking. "You ready?" he asked Blair, feeling nervous about the state Serena would be in. In lieu of an answer, Blair knocked on the door. Chuck smirked when he saw the two of them.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite couple," he said, his eyes narrowing at them. "I take it you're here for Serena."

"Just let us talk to her, Bass," Dan said, exasperated.

Serena appeared from behind Chuck. She looked horrible, far worse than she had the other night when she'd come home drunk.

"Dan...and Blair?" Serena asked, clearly surprised by the sight of both of them there waiting for her.

"S, are you okay?" Blair asked timidly, which concerned Dan more than anything to this point. He could sense Blair's fear for her best friend, and he wondered how many times Blair had reenacted this exact scene in the past.

"I'm fine. You know, my migraine started acting up..."

"Serena, you can tell us what's going on with you," Dan said pleadingly. "We're just so worried about you. You've been acting so strange these last few days. If you just freaked out about the SATs, you can tell us. Where were you?"

"She was with me," Chuck interjected smugly.

"What he means is, I just felt bad, that's all," Serena said, not looking either of them in the eye. "I'll take the test another time."

"Serena..." Blair said, clearly not believing her.

"I told you both I was sick," Serena snapped.

"I know you hired someone to take the test for you," Dan blurted.

"What?" Serena said, her head jerking up. She turned swiftly to Chuck.

"I told you to hold the doors open for me," Serena told Chuck accusingly.

"They don't hold the doors open," Chuck said with a laugh. "I just thought on my feet."

"Of course you did," Blair scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Wanting her attention, Dan grabbed Serena's hand, hoping to draw her eyes up. "We're both just so worried about you," Dan said, practically begging her to open up. "Please, we're both here for you. We just want to understand what's going on with you."

Serena slowly pulled her hand away, looking sad. "I can't," she said. She looked to Blair. "I'll call you later, okay? I'm okay, really, both of you."

"But Serena..." Blair protested as Chuck shut the door in their faces.

"So, that went well," Dan said grimly.

"I really thought she'd changed this time," Blair said sadly. "Maybe it really was because of you."

"Don't say that," Dan said, feeling horrible about everything, starting at the moment that he'd broken up with Serena, though he didn't know what he'd change precisely that would have things better for Serena. "I think she really wanted to change for herself, knowing how much she hurt you before."

When they stepped into the elevator, Blair looked crestfallen. "I don't want to lose her again," she said, her bottom lip quivering as she tried to hold back tears. "She's all I have."

Dan felt like he'd been punched in the gut at Blair's words. Sometimes he forgot just how lonely her world was, which perhaps explained some of her actions.

He cupped her face and looked her in the eyes. "I won't let that happen," he told her confidently. "_We_ won't let that happen."

He leaned down and kissed her softly, sealing their pact. When he pulled away, he saw Blair's eyes were filled with tears.

"What's going on with us?" she asked beseechingly.

"I think for now, we need to concentrate on Serena," Dan said honestly. "After we figure out what's going on with her, we can think about what, if anything, is going on with us. For now, we're just two people with a common goal."

Blair nodded. "It's all about Serena," she agreed, sounding resigned.

When the elevator doors opened, they went their separate ways without a word.

Feeling tired to the bone, the last place Dan wanted to go was back to the apartment. He didn't want to be around when Serena told her mother she didn't take the SATs. Dan found himself at the park, wandering around aimlessly. His thoughts kept shifting from his worry about Serena to his confusion about Blair. He wished he could have decisively told Blair that they were over like he did the first time, but he found that his once his anger had dulled that he was much more conflicted, and there was no denying that he was drawn to her in a way that he couldn't seem to keep entirely in check.

He was startled out of his revelry by a dog practically ploughing him over. Dan grabbed onto the dog as he saw a cute brunette girl come running toward him, who he assumed was the owner.

"Georgie! Hey! Bad boy!" she scolded the dog before turning to Dan. "I'm so sorry he bothered you."

"It's fine, I love dogs," he said reassuringly, smiling as the girl put the leash on the dog. It was actually a welcome distraction from his racing thoughts.

"Do you have any dogs?" the girl asked.

Dan shook his head, then heard himself launch into some narrative about the cat they used to have that they gave away because of Jenny. "But...it's just a cat?" he finished, shooting the girl a grin. He hoped he had managed to cover his dour mood.

It must have worked, because she laughed and stuck her hand out. "I'm Sarah," she said, shaking his hand.

"I'm Dan. It was nice to meet you," Dan said, noticing the girl had a really nice smile. He couldn't help thinking it might be nice to talk to someone who knew nothing about him or his overly complicated life.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's notes: We're coming down the home stretch for sure now. Two more chapters, and an epilogue are left. I know the last chapter was largely filler, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. There's a big turn in here I've been hinting at for a couple of chapters, so I hope the payoff is worth it. This follows canon a lot closer than any chapter has in awhile, but with a few nice turns thrown in as well. I know I haven't been updating as regularly, but real life interfered. I really like this chapter, so I hope you do too. **_

Even though Dan didn't have a class first period, he dragged himself out of bed in time to walk to class with Serena. He was hoping to have a chance to talk to Serena, as she'd been studiously avoiding him in the few days that had gone by since the SAT. Furthermore, he wanted to keep an eye on Jenny as best he could, not trusting this new boyfriend of hers.

He got dressed and went into the kitchen, surprised to find Serena there alone.

"Where are the youngins?" Dan asked Serena as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Serena took a sip of her own coffee and shrugged her shoulders. "They both went to class early," she said, then looked thoughtful. "Have you noticed that Eric's been acting kind of funny lately, especially around Jenny?"

Dan thought about it, then realized there was some merit to it. He had been so caught up in Serena, Jenny and his own problems that he hadn't noticed that Eric had been acting funny. He felt bad, as he hadn't really made much of an effort to get close to Eric with everything else that had been going on.

"I hadn't noticed until you said something, but he has been acting weird, basically ever since Jenny started dating Asher," Dan said, contemplating the significance of this. The last thing they needed was another set of almost-siblings to have romantic tension.

"They're pretty close; maybe he just feels left out," Serena said, looking sad. "I've probably been neglecting him lately."

"Me too," Dan agreed. "We should try and do something with Eric, though he's probably pretty busy being Gossip Girl."

Serena laughed. "Those Gossip Girl rumors are crazy right now. Anyhow, I have to study for four hours yet again tonight, and for the foreseeable future," she said regretfully. "You guys should hang out though. Eric could use a little guy time."

Dan smiled, feeling a rush of warmth pass through him. He knew how much Eric meant to Serena, so he felt touched that she would want them to spend time together.

"I'd like that," Dan said. "I feel like I spend too much time with girls sometimes myself."

"Who are all these girls you're hanging out with? With all the Gossip Girl rumors, I would have thought you'd pop up if you were seen with someone," Serena said teasingly, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Just one girl, I guess," Dan said, somewhat sheepishly. He didn't really want to discuss all the time he and Blair had spent together in the past few months, especially now that it seemed like that was over for the most part. "I met this girl in the park the other day, Sarah. He's from Oregon, and just visiting the city right now. She's pretty cool and easy to talk to. "

Dan had gone out to coffee a few times with Sarah, and he was amazed at how easy she was to talk to. Even though she knew nothing about his life, she somehow knew just the questions to ask to get to the heart of his problems. He found himself telling her all about Blair, relieved that he finally had an outlet with someone he could trust and who knew nothing about Gossip Girl, Serena or Nate.

"You should let me meet her so I can decide if she's good enough for you," Serena said with a soft smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Dan said quickly. "I'm not ready to jump into anything right now."

Dan tried not visibly flinch after he said that, as he had a feeling Serena was going to misinterpret his comment to mean that he was still hung up on her. Sometimes he wished that were the case, as it would probably make his life less complicated, which was kind of messed up in its own right.

"I know you're going to date again," Serena said softly, not looking him in the eye. "So will I."

Dan's heart sunk a little as he had a horrible thought. "I know I don't like the guy, but you really can tell me if you and Chuck…." Dan tried his best to keep his expression neutral, even though he was internally disgusted by the thought.

To his relief, Serena's nose scrunched up and she grimaced. "No, it's not like that at all," Serena said firmly. "Sometimes it's just hard to move on from the past. Like I told you, I told…Chuck that I'm trying to be a better person, and that I take a lot of my strength from you."

Dan smiled softly at her, reaching over and giving her hand a light squeeze. "Thanks, that means a lot to me," Dan said sincerely, but felt it was time to lighten the mood. He took a breath, and widened his smile. "So, what crazy rumors are Jenny and Blair going to concoct today?" Dan asked, rolling his eyes. Jenny and Blair's little war had moved to Gossip Girl, with one new insane rumor after another. It had reached the point of ridiculousness where nothing could really be believed. Dan was just trying to stay out of it, as was Serena.

"Maybe you'll finally be at the center of one of these salacious stories," Serena said, smiling in return. "You want to walk to school together?"

"I'd love to. It keeps the paparazzi off my case to be seen with you," Dan said with a grin. Dan felt a small amount of relief. Serena seemed like she was returning to her old self. Whatever she told Chuck must have worked.

When they arrived at school, Dan was immediately greeted by a sight he did not want to see: his little sister making out with her new boyfriend.

"I don't need to see that," Dan said, cringing.

Serena just laughed at him. "You had to know she was going to date someday, right?"

"I guess so," Dan sighed. "I just didn't need to see her tongue down some guy's throat."

"Oh, it's cute," Serena said, giving him a light shove. "Do you even know him?"

"No, not really," he admitted. "There's just something about him I don't like."

"You should give him a chance," Serena reasoned. "You have first period off. Why don't you take the time to go talk to him?"

Dan thought about it, and realized Serena was right. He was probably just being overly protective of Jenny like always, and the least he could do was try and get to know her new boyfriend.

"I guess I can do that," he conceded. "You know, you're very wise."

Serena beamed at him. "It's all the SAT studying, I'm sure," she said. "So, after you're done worrying about Jenny, you're still going to hang out with Eric, right?"

Dan let out an exaggerated sigh and smiled. "I suppose. It's tough being the big brother these days," he said in mock seriousness.

"You know you love it," Serena said.

Dan smiled and laughed, knowing there was some truth to it. While sometimes his life felt a little claustrophobic with so many people around all the time, he was slowly coming to enjoy being less alone.

After Serena went to class, and presumably Jenny too, Dan went to seek out Asher on the street, deciding he'd give the guy a chance. He was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him instead.

He saw the unmistakable profile of Asher Hornsby, his sister's new girlfriend, kissing a guy. Dan couldn't make out the face of the guy, and he didn't want to draw attention to himself to get a closer look. Eventually, the two broke apart and had what appeared to be a tense conversation before Asher took off down the street, presumably to go to school. The other boy took off before Dan could get a good look at him. Slumping his shoulders, Dan tried to decide what the next step was.

After much thought, Dan decided his best plan of action was to move forward just like his original plan, though now he had more to say to Archer. He took a deep breath and started to walk toward Unity, hoping to catch Asher there.

It was nearly lunch before he finally saw Asher in the Unity courtyard.

"Hey, Asher, can I talk to you for a minute?" Dan asked hesitantly.

"Sure, but I've just got a minute, " Asher told him. "I'm meeting Jenny for lunch in a few minutes."

Dan sighed, and gathered his nerve. "Look, there's no easy way to say this….so, uh, I'm just going to say it," Dan stammered out awkwardly. "I…uh, saw you this morning."

"Saw me what?" Asher said, looking at him suspiciously.

"I saw you…You know…saw you kissing that guy," Dan finally finished.

"You're wrong," Asher said, looking angry.

"No, I'm pretty sure that was you," Dan said decisively. He wished it were a possibility that he was mistaken, but he knew what he saw.

"Are you call me queer?" Asher said in an accusatory tone.

Dan did a double take, because he would never use that word. He couldn't care less if Asher were gay or straight, or anyone else for that matter. He just didn't want his sister to get pulled into anything that would break her heart.

"That's…Not at all what I said," Dan finally said.

Asher took a couple of steps forward, getting into his face. "You wanna know how queer I am? I'm so queer, I'm gonna pop your sister's cherry tonight."

Dan felt a rush of anger overtake him, and he immediately reached forward to show Asher exactly what would happen if he carried through with his threat. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment that Jenny showed up.

"Dan! What are you doing?" Jenny screamed at him. Reluctantly, Dan let Asher go, still furious.

"Jenny, can I talk to you in private?" Dan asked pleadingly.

Jenny scoffed at him. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of my boyfriend."

"Really? Okay, fine then. Your boyfriend isn't being honest with you," Dan said, not wanting to elaborate, as he felt that was a quick way for things to escalate. The last thing Dan needed was to actually kill the guy with Jenny standing right there.

"Jenny, your brother's just upset because I told him I was planning to take you to the country this weekend and he thinks things are moving too fast," Asher said, smirking at Dan.

Dan noticed Jenny visibly tense up before she turned to Dan, looking angry. "Dan! Can't you just let me be happy for once? I've never stood in your way, even when I had my doubts. "

Dan sighed, wondering how this conversation had gotten so far away from him so quickly. He hated that Jenny didn't think he had her best interests at heart.

"Jen, I want you to be happy. Just not with a guy who…" Dan started, but Jenny cut him off before he could finish.

"Yeah, I understand that you're threatened by him, because he's clearly everything you want to be: He's good-looking, and worldly, a legacy at Dartmouth…But even you should know that jealousy clashes with L.L. Bean pants," Jenny said in a huff, shooting Dan one final glare before she pulled on Asher's hand and led him away.

Dan had had his suspicions about Jenny's ability to fight dirty, and he hadn't forgotten her stealing from him a few weeks ago. However, he was completely unprepared for how she turned on him like that.

Feeling dejected, Dan went to the Met steps in hopes of finding Serena. Of course, Blair was there too. Surprisingly, he had rarely had to interact with Blair and Serena at the same time since he and Blair slept together. He desperately needed advice, so he hoped that Blair would be civil. He felt like they had reached an understanding after the SAT, but she was very mercurial, not unlike his sister.

"You okay?' Serena asked, looking concerned. "You look stressed, even for you."

Dan's shoulders slumped, and he let out a dejected sigh. "It's not me, it's Jenny."

"Oh, so you've finally discovered that she's self-obsessed, self-serving, self-centered…" Blair started, smirking at him slightly, though he could see the sadness in her eyes.

"I wish it was about her," Dan cut her off, not wanting to hear more. He was also afraid delving too deeply into the subject would reveal more than either of them wanted Serena to know. "I tried, but she just completely blew me off. And she dissed my pants!"

"Seriously, you get money from Lily now. Why hasn't your wardrobe improved?" Blair asked, shooting him a grin. He couldn't help but chuckle, the mild insult making him feel more at ease than he'd felt all day.

"Blair," Serena chided Blair before turning back to Dan. "She's just going through a phase. We all went through it."

Blair nodded. "All that matters to someone like Jenny right now are the four G's: guys, girlfriends, and Gossip Girl," Blair said, giving him a sympathetic smile. He briefly caught her eye and returned the smile, knowing that it was hard for Blair to give him advice about his sister.

The moment ended when Serena spoke again. "It's true," Serena agreed. "Don't feel bad. Unless it's coming from one of them, she's not going to hear it."

Dan smiled at them both, not sure what to do next. "Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I can figure something out."

His mind was racing as he started to walk back from school. He didn't really trust any of Jenny's supposed friends to be his ally in this. He wished he could trust Blair, as she would probably be his best chance at getting through to Jenny. However, history indicated that telling Blair would be a terrible idea, and that she would only use the information to hurt Jenny in the end, deploying it at just the right moment. Serena and Jenny weren't very close, and he wasn't sure if Serena would want to risk the relative peace in the house.

Feeling an air of desperation, he picked up his phone and texted Gossip Girl for the first time in his life. Flipping his phone closed, Dan hoped he had done the right thing.

When he arrived in the courtyard, everyone was abuzz with the latest rumor. Unfortunately, the general consensus seemed to be that Jenny and Blair's feud had reached the tipping point where nothing could quite be believed. Dan began to doubt his strategy.

He saw Serena, and went over to talk to her, hoping for some further advice, or at least to get her take on the rumor. Serena looked distant and almost scared, running off almost immediately. Then, out of nowhere, Blair appeared.

"Dan Humphrey, I didn't think you had it in you," Blair said smugly. "You're dirty."

"What?" Dan asked, confused about the abruptness of this conversation. "I don't know what you're hearing, but I haven't…with anyone else…and you know all the dirty stuff I've ever done first hand."

Blair rolled her eyes at him. "No, it's not about _that,_" she said exasperatedly. "Cheating, drinking, drugs, it's all fair game, but outing your sister's boyfriend is dark. How did squeaky clean Humphrey even come up with that, given how you wanted nothing to do with me when I dared fight back against your precious sister."

"Oh," Dan said, embarrassed. "I wasn't making anything up. I might have seen Asher kissing another guy."

Dan inwardly cringed when he saw a look of pure glee pass over Blair's face. "Do you have any details?"

"What does that even matter?" Dan asked, happy to not have any more details. The information he already possessed was making him miserable enough.

"It doesn't," Blair agreed. "The thing is, right now Gossip Girl has no credibility. If I can prove that Asher's duplicity is more than just a rumor, then they'll break up. That's what you want, isn't it?" Blair's look of glee had subsided some, and he suspected she might be somewhat sincere in trying to help him along with her own cause. Dan finally nodded, encouraging her to go on.

"Asher's just using your sister as a cover. It's your brotherly duty to save her from becoming the next Katie Holmes!"

Dan gave her a skeptical look, feeling that scheming with Blair would probably be the last straw with Jenny before he lost all pull with her. Plus, he didn't want to think about what scheming with Blair to out Jenny's boyfriend would mean to his own relationship with Blair. Even he could see the level of hypocrisy that would exist if he stayed mad at her after that, but he still didn't really trust her to not just use him again to further her own interests.

"Blair, this isn't a game to me," he said seriously. "I don't want to see her get hurt."

Blair just scoffed at him. "Right, because that text to Gossip Girl about your sister being a glorified hag wasn't at all hurtful," Blair said defensively, crossing her arms over chest. "You know what, you just mope and I'll do what I'm going to do. You can say what you want about me, but at least I'm not a hypocrite."

"Blair…" Dan tried to protest, but he knew he didn't have much of a defense.

"I'm just glad I didn't jeopardize my friendship with Serena any further to be with someone like you," she bit out. "The sex wasn't worth it."

"Just stop, Blair," Dan said angrily, trying hard to keep his voice level to avoid drawing attention to them. They were in a relatively private location, and no one seemed to be paying them any attention. "I can see my own questionable judgment here and the hypocrisy. I get it. You also used me, and I had a right to be pissed. On top of all that, you keep acting like we didn't have a bond before we had sex, and that we just slept together because we're attracted to each other and horny. You know that's not what happened."

He heard Blair's sharp intake of breath, and he took the opportunity to lean in closer, deciding he didn't care if anyone spotted the intimacy of the moment. He figured anyone who saw it would just assume they were fighting.

"You can call me too romantic or cheesy or whatever," Dan said into her ear. "From the moment I was first inside you, we didn't take our eyes off each other. We connected in both mind and body in a way I always wanted for my first time. No matter what you say, you can't take that memory away from me. _I was there_."

He stepped back out of her personal space, looking at her closely. She looked like she was in shock, completely unprepared for his words. He saw her straighten up, her face closing off completely.

"And why are you telling me this now?" she scoffed dismissively. "I know it's not because you want to be with me. If you're trying to hurt me, I don't care enough for you to have that power."

He thought he saw a flash of something in her eye that contradicted her words, but Dan was tired of this whole thing. He wasn't sure if it was worse if Blair actually didn't care about him or if she didn't want to care about him. Either way, they arrived at the same impasse.

"Well, I guess once everything settles down with Serena we won't have anything to discuss," Dan said coldly.

"I guess not," Blair agreed.

When Dan got home, he plopped on his bed and buried his head into his pillow. If the day could have gone worse, he wasn't sure how. He heard a soft knock on his door.

"What?" he snapped, sure it was Jenny coming to berate him some more.

The door slowly opened, and Eric tentatively walked in. "I'm sorry, I can come back later…" Eric said, looking down at the ground almost timidly.

Dan immediately felt ashamed. "Hey, man, I'm sorry," Dan said. "Come in. It's been a long day. I just thought you were Jenny, and let's just say she's not real happy with me right now."

Eric closed the door behind him, seating himself in Dan's desk chair. "Join the club," Eric said grimly.

Dan shot Eric a sympathetic look. "You not a fan of Asher either?" Dan asked.

Strangely, Eric avoided his gaze and blushed. Dan decided his and Serena's earlier suspicions were probably on target, and he felt bad all over again.

"Hey, it's only natural for you to develop certain feelings when we're all cooped up on this lavish penthouse like this…." Dan said, trying to keep his tone light. "Believe me, I wish when Serena walked around here that she would remember that I'm a teenage boy and we used to date…I know it's over, but I'm still a guy, you know?"

Eric visibly blanched, and Dan wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Sounding like he lusting over Eric's sister was probably not the way to get him to open up, even if Eric was guilty of the same thing.

"Sorry…" Dan said sheepishly. "Sometimes I run my mouth off inappropriately."

"I've noticed," Eric said, smiling weakly. He noticed Eric sit even more upright in his chair, looking nervous. "Um, anyhow, it's not what you think."

"Then what's going on? I promise I won't tell anyone," Dan said sincerely. He knew it would be hard to keep a secret about Eric from Serena, but he knew she would be happy that Eric felt he could confide in someone.

"I'm worried about Jenny," Eric started. "I know that the rumor about Asher is true."

"Did you see it happen too?" Dan asked, surprised. He hadn't seen Eric anywhere in sight.

"Wait, you saw?" Eric asked, looking confused. "Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"Why would I?" Dan wasn't sure what Eric was getting at.

"So you sent the blast?" Eric asked, looking appalled. "I can't believe you'd go and do that to the both of us. I guess Serena didn't know what she was talking about when she said what a great guy you are."

"Wait, what did I do to you?" Dan asked, thoroughly confused now. He went over this conversation in his head, and the pieces slowly fell into place. Dan now felt even worse, which was something he hadn't been sure was possible.

"I'm so sorry," Dan finally said. "I didn't realize until now it was you. I just saw Asher, and Jenny blew me off when I tried to tell her. I was worried about her, so I got desperate."

Still not meeting his eyes, Eric tentatively spoke up. "You really didn't know?" Dan shook his head, and Eric visibly softened. "It doesn't…bother you, does it?"

"No, of course not," Dan said, hoping his sincerity was evident in his voice. "The only thing that bothers me is that I think Asher's an asshole."

Eric smiled grimly. "Yeah, I'm beginning to figure that out," Eric said. "You ever want to be with someone when it goes completely against your better judgment."

Dan couldn't help but laugh. "I definitely know exactly how it feels," Dan said sympathetically. "It's no fun."

The next day, Dan once again dragged himself out of bed, not looking forward to the day ahead in the least. He felt good about his conversation with Eric, happy that Eric trusted him enough to confide in him. However, he had no idea what he was going to do about Jenny. To top it all off, Serena was acting strange again.

He didn't have first period again that day, so he decided to call Sarah up to drink coffee in the park. He needed someone to talk to who could be unbiased in all of this.

As always, she listened attentively. "It sounds like it was a long day," she said sympathetically, rubbing his arm soothingly.

"I don't even know where to begin to help everyone," Dan said dejectedly.

"I think you should start with Serena," Sarah told him. "She seems like she's drifting again, but if you could get her to open up to you she may be able to help you with everything else."

Dan tilted his head skeptically. "How can I get her to open up?"

"Tell her your biggest secret so that she knows you're not perfect," Sarah suggested. "I think her problem right now is that she doesn't think she can trust you with the bad stuff because she thinks you won't understand."

"I can't tell her about Blair," he protested. "It would just hurt her. It would also get me punched in the face by Nate."

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know Serena, but from what you've said, she would have no right to judge," Sarah pointed out. "I bet you guys would be a lot closer if she knew you were trusting her with this, and then she'd be more open to you."

"I don't know…" Dan hedged.

"Just think about it," Sarah said.

"You still want to grab dinner tonight?" Dan asked.

"Sure," Sarah said. "You should invite Serena. It sounds like she could use a night out."

"Maybe I'll do that," Dan said, that idea sounding much better than telling Serena about Blair.

After school, Dan took some time to walk around the park, taking Sarah's words to heart. Maybe it was time to relieve himself of the burden of secrets. While he was happy to keep Eric's revelations private, he beginning to think it would be freeing for everything to be out in open about him and Blair so that they could all just deal with it. The only problem was, he might be jeopardizing Serena's friendship with Blair, which is something he definitely didn't want to do.

As much as he wanted Serena to trust him, he just didn't see how he could do it. He figured he'd just invite her to dinner and see how things went from there.

When he got home, he knocked on Serena's door lightly, noticing it was already open a crack. He slowly stepped in, not wanting to startle her.

"Serena?" he said tentatively, knocking again as he entered.

She almost jumped out of her chair, snapping her laptop shut. "What?"

"Are you okay?" he asked, feeling concerned.

"I'm fine," she said, though she didn't look okay.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Dan told her truthfully. "Is this Chuck again?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "He just won't let up. I don't even know what his endgame is."

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Dan asked, wanting to help. He'd try to not deck the guy.

"No," Serena said quickly. "I'll handle it."

"Okay," Dan said carefully. "I think maybe you need to get out. You want to come to dinner with me and Sarah tonight?"

"Oh, I finally get to meet the new girlfriend," Serena said, a small smile on her face.

"She's not my girlfriend," Dan said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever you say," Serena said in a sing song voice, perking up as she teased him.

"Just come," Dan said. "You'll see it's completely platonic between us."

"I'll come," Serena agreed. "I'm just willing to bet that she has a huge crush on you."

Dan chuckled. "Thanks," Dan said, blushing a little. "Let's head out in an hour or so, okay?"

Just then, his phone buzzed with a blast from Gossip Girl. "Breaking news: Asher Hornsby overheard bragging that Little J swiped her V card at his register…"

Dan's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"What?" Serena asked, looking concerned that his face might freeze that way. When he didn't respond, she looked at her own phone. "Oh, Dan…" Serena said sympathetically.

Without a word to Serena, Dan then moved down the line to Jenny's room. Her door was also open, where she stood inside examining her wardrobe choices for the party she was hosting with Asher that evening.

He flashed his phone in Jenny's face. "Is it true?" he asked, dreading her response. He didn't want his sister's first time to happen so soon, and especially not with someone who didn't care about her.

"It's private," she snapped.

"It's on the internet, so actually, it's not," Dan replied.

"Fine, then it's none of your business," Jenny scoffed.

"You're fifteen years old and I'm your big brother. It is my business," Dan told her firmly. He was hoping she understood that he was just worried about her, wanting to protect her from the world. He knew how crazy his life had become since he started having sex with someone under questionable circumstances, and it's the last thing he wanted for his sister.

"It's not true," she finally admitted. "Just don't tell anyone. Everyone has to believe it."

Now Dan was more confused than ever. "I don't get it. You want all your friends to think you had sex with someone who's gay?"

"Do you believe everything you read on Gossip Girl?" Jenny asked him. Dan looked at the ground, knowing he'd have to admit the truth.

"No, but I know it's true. I didn't just read the tip, I'm the one who sent it in," Dan confessed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I tried to tell you. You wouldn't listen to me, so I needed to get your attention somehow."

Jenny straightened up, and looked at him. "Well, I knew about him all along."

Dan just gaped at Jenny, shocked. "He's using you!" He wanted to get through to her, as he wasn't sure she understood how damaging all of this could be down the road.

"Maybe I'm using him too," Jenny told him. Dan's heart sunk. He had no idea what to do, but he knew once Jenny developed a reputation that it would be even harder to protect her from the Ashers and Chucks of the world.

She turned to him then, looking him dead in the eye. "You think you're so different, and so good? Well guess what, Dan? The minute you start sending tips to Gossip Girl, you're in the game with the rest of us."

The words hit home, and Dan hung his head shamefully. "Jen…."

She cut him off immediately. "You know, I could have sold you out a long time ago if I wanted," she told him. "I know things, and when the moment's right I might just let other people know those things. Now get out of my room."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dan asked, more perplexed than ever.

Jenny just grinned at him menacingly, yet calmly, an expression he'd only ever seen before on Blair's face. "If no one finds out the truth about Asher, then I won't tell anyone," she said. "You can be surprised along with the rest of the world if anything does leak out."

With that, Dan went back to his room to lick his wounds. Even as conflicted as he had been over Blair, this whole fiasco with Jenny was definitely in another league, especially with Eric involved. Dan was moping in his room when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said despondently.

"Hey, you ready for dinner?" Serena asked. "It's been a long day-I think I could use a night out."

"Me too," Dan agreed. "Where's Eric?"

"He is doing something important," Serena said with a calm smile. "You'll find out later."

Deciding not to press matters, he stood up and started out the door with Serena.

When they arrived at the coffee shop to grab a light dinner, Sarah was already waiting for them. When Dan introduced them, he noticed that Serena got very tense. He felt bad; maybe Serena wasn't ready to see him with even potential future girlfriends yet. He was just glad that he hadn't followed Sarah's advice and told Serena about him and Blair.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" Sarah said warmly, standing up to shake Serena's hand.

Serena just gawked. "Are you okay?" Dan asked.

"I need to talk to you alone," Serena said.

He gave Sarah an apologetic look and pulled Serena aside at the entrance. "We just got here," Dan said, confused. "What's going on? Is it whatever's happening with Eric? Is it about you and me being out with a different girl?"

Serena shook her head. "You can't trust Sarah," she said bluntly.

"What?" Dan asked, shaking his head. "You're not making sense."

Serena continued to look at him pleadingly. "I know this sounds crazy, but you have to believe me. You cannot trust her."

Dan was beginning to get fed up. The past couple of days had worn on him greatly, and he just wanted to be done with all the secrets and lies.

"Serena, what's been going on with you? Surely, this hasn't all been about Chuck these past few weeks…." Dan tried to reason with her. "Please, just talk to me. We can go somewhere and talk if you want. I know you think you can't trust me with the bad stuff, but you can. I understand better than you know…."

"I know you sent the blast about Asher," Serena said. "I know you're not perfect, but you can't understand…"

"Please, just talk to me," he pleaded. Just then, Sarah walked up.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked, somewhat timidly. "Are you okay, Serena? I know Dan's been really worried about you lately."

Serena shot him an astonished look. "You told _her _about us? About me?"

"I'm sorry," Dan said. "She's just a good sounding board because she doesn't know any of us, so it gives a new perspective."

"Oh, Dan…what have you told her?"

"She doesn't know Eric or Jenny or Blair…or you," Dan said. "Really, it's okay. I'm just worried."

"I've gotta go," Serena mumbled, and fled the coffee shop.

"Should I go after her?" he asked Sarah, completely at a loss.

"I'd just let her go," Sarah said sympathetically. "Do you still want food? I'm here to listen."

Dan sighed, feeling resigned that nothing was going to get better that night.

"Yeah, let's eat."

After talking to Sarah, he felt better. Sarah didn't really say much; she just listened. Before putting her in a cab, they made plans to go see his dad perform in concert the next night.

After Sarah was gone, Dan decided to walk home. He looked at his messages, seeing a Gossip Girl blast that had detailed information about Eric and Asher. He felt bad for his sister, but he hoped she could learn from the experience.

As he got closer to home, he began to dread his entrance. Jenny and Eric were probably not speaking to each other, and Dan was pretty sure that Serena nor Jenny were speaking to him. He was still worried about both of them. He had a feeling he and Eric might grow a lot closer during the coming week.

When he was a block away from home, his phone rang. He did a double take when he saw the caller ID. He wasn't sure why Blair would be calling him at all, let alone so late.

"Waldorf, I swear if this is a booty call," he answered irritably.

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped. "I need your help. Serena showed up here upset, said a bunch of crazy things and fled. Can you come over here so we can try and find her?"

"I'm sorry for how I answered the phone," he said, properly chastened. "I'll be right over."

Doing an about face, Dan practically sprinted to Blair's. Just as he entered her building, his phone chimed with yet another Gossip Girl blast. Rolling his eyes, he looked at his phone. He nearly dropped it when he saw the picture message that had been delivered to all of the Gossip Girl subscribers.

There, in living color, was a picture of him in bed with Blair at the loft, the two of them covered by a sheet but clearly shirtless at the very least. He was asleep on his back, Blair's head resting peacefully on his chest. He couldn't help but stare at the picture, the contented looks on their faces confirming what he'd known all along: that night had not been just about sex.

Before he could process it completely, he felt a blow to the face and he was knocked down, his phone flying across the room. Nate Archibald was looking down at him, glowering, looking as mad as he'd ever seen him. Chuck was standing over his shoulder, smirking in the background.

All Dan could do was stare, waiting for whatever Nate was going to do next. He knew that whatever it was, he probably deserved it.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Notes: Thank you so much for sticking with me thus far. I apologize for the huge delay. About a month ago, I was offered a job halfway across the country. I'm leaving in two weeks. Finishing up at my old job and preparing for the move has eaten up my life, but I wanted to take time to write as it does help relieve stress. The good news: once I move, the updates should come quickly considering I know no one in my new city and will have no life. Anyhow, there will be one more chapter and an epilogue after this. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and that it was worth the wait. **_

Dan sat on the ground, gingerly touching his throbbing jaw where Nate had punched him. "Hey, man, I'm really sorry. If it helps, that picture you saw was taken after you guys broke up."

Chuck emerged from behind Nate, sneering down at Dan. "Nathaniel, you do know I saw Humphrey kissing Blair while you guys were still together, right? Who knows what else was going on?"

"If you were so concerned about Nate's relationship, why didn't you tell him sooner? It seems to me you were much more concerned with lording that information over us than with telling Nate," Dan said, glaring at Chuck. While he felt bad about sneaking around behind Nate's back, he was in no mood to put up with Chuck's bullshit.

"I'll deal with Chuck later," Nate said dismissively. "I thought you were a stand-up guy. Tell me, was the booty call after soccer practice Blair?"

"You should know that Blair Waldorf does not do booty calls," Dan said, unable to hide the fond smile which crossed his face before he caught himself. "But yeah, it was Blair who texted me that night and I did go meet her," Dan admitted, his expression turning serious again.

Nate crossed his arms across his chest, looking at Dan confusedly. "Here's what I don't get: why didn't you just tell me? My relationship with Blair ran its course. I really wouldn't have minded you guys dating."

Dan sighed, looking down at the ground. "That first night just sort of happened. And then Blair never wanted to talk about it, and it was pretty much over before it started," Dan said sadly. "Honestly, the whole thing lasted maybe three weeks, and one of those weeks I was in Hudson and we didn't even talk."

"God, you're pathetic," Chuck said with a smirk.

Dan clenched his fists at his sides, trying hard to ignore Chuck. Dan desperately wanted to rub it in Chuck's face that Dan at least briefly had Blair, but he knew that would only make things worse with Nate.

"Shut up, Chuck," Nate snapped. Dan couldn't help but return Chuck's earlier smirk. Nate rolled his eyes, returning his glare to Dan. "That doesn't mean I'm done with you, Humphrey."

"Nate, I really am sorry," Dan said, hoping his sincerity was evident. "I can't tell you how much it's meant to me that you've been my friend. I shouldn't have let a girl put our friendship at risk, even someone like Blair."

Dan saw Nate's expression visibly soften. "You really like her, don't you?" Nate asked him.

Dan shrugged, looking anywhere but at Nate. "Yeah, I guess I do," he confessed quietly. "It doesn't really matter, because she doesn't feel the same way. She made it very clear that I was nothing more than her dirty little secret." Dan tried hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he knew he was failing.

"Chuck was right about one thing; you really are pathetic," Nate said, a tinge of affection in his voice. He reached a hand out towards Dan. "Come on, get up." Dan took the offered hand, looking skeptically at Nate as he stood up.

"Are we okay?" Dan asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I think so," Nate said. "Who am I to judge someone letting their emotions and hormones get the better of them?"

Dan felt an immense relief. Until Nate said they were okay, he hadn't realized just how much he feared that their friendship was over. He really did enjoy finally having a guy friend, and he didn't want to lose Nate over this, especially considering he and Blair were never going to happen.

"Seriously, that's it?" Chuck asked, looking appalled.

"Let's just go see what Blair wants from us," Nate said, ignoring Chuck as he headed towards the elevator.

When they stepped off the elevator, Blair was waiting for them. "What the hell took you guys so long?" she snapped. She then took in Dan's appearance, with his slightly cut lip and jaw that was likely sporting a bruise. "Oh, never mind. I see that you guys were up to."

"I still can't believe you'd slum it like that, Waldorf," Chuck drawled smugly. "If your goal was to sleep with one of Nate's friends, I would have shown you a much better time."

Blair rolled her eyes. "It's never happening Chuck," Blair said, as though they had had this discussion several times before.

"Blair, as much as I'd love to hear all about hypothetical sex with Chuck, can we talk about why we're here? Do you know where Serena is yet?" Nate interjected, looking put out.

"No, but I have a plan," Blair answered.

"Of course you do," Dan said flippantly. Blair glared at him before continuing.

"We need to divide up to try and find her. I had been hoping she'd be back before you guys got her, and we could attend to her in whatever state she's in and Humphrey could wrangle up a cover story for the parents," Blair explained. "But she's not here, so let's split up. Nate, you go check the bars she frequents. Dan and I will hit some other spots, some of which a female shouldn't go to alone at night. And Chuck, you stay here and be ready in case she comes back and to be here if one of us finds her. Coping with her drunkenness is a skill of yours."

"I'm glad you appreciate at least some of my talents," Chuck said. Dan continued to feel tense, it taking all of his willpower to not punch Chuck.

"Wait, you're leaving Chuck here to potentially be alone with a girl who is definitely upset, and may be intoxicated?" Dan asked. "Call me crazy, but that sounds like a terrible idea."

"Do _you_ feel capable of handling a drunk Serena?" Blair questioned him tersely. "Anyhow, Dorota's under strict orders to be right by Chuck's side should Serena show up."

"I would never take advantage of Serena like that if she's incapacitated. Now, if she were just loose and fun..." Chuck said, winking at Dan. "Of course, she'd probably just tease me again, just like your sister."

Without thinking, Dan sprung forward, fists clenched. Nate put out an arm out to restrain him.

"Dan, just let him run his mouth off," Nate advised. "Chuck knows if he laid a hand on Serena that none of us would ever speak to him again."

"In some cases, that wouldn't be a bad thing," Chuck said, smirking. Dan rolled his eyes, but didn't fight Nate off.

Nate put his arm down, apparently convinced Dan's impulse to punch Chuck had subsided. Dan continued to feel tense until he felt Blair lightly squeeze his hand. "Serena will be fine if she comes here. I promise," Blair said sincerely, looking him straight in the eye.

"Okay," Dan said begrudgingly. "I trust _Dorota_." Dan gave Chuck one last glare for good measure.

"Good," Blair said. "Now, let's hope one of us can find her and she's not in Vermont, trying to complete her tour of New England boarding schools."

After an awkward, silent elevator ride, Dan and Blair parted ways with Nate, who promised to call if he found Serena. Dan turned to Blair, not sure what to say.

"So, the cat's out of the bag..." Dan said as they walked to some mysterious location. Dan figured for the time being he would just follow Blair's lead, knowing her long history with Serena.

"I should know by now that secrets always come out," Blair said, looking away from him. "I could have done without the pictorial evidence. I assume that was your sister's doing?"

Dan sighed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I didn't even know she came by the loft that morning. She kept making little hints that she knew something was up between you and me, but I never in a million years expected _this_," Dan admitted. He really couldn't believe that his sister would take a picture of him in bed with a girl, let alone use that picture against him. But, a month ago he never would have thought his sister would steal from him either. He was beginning to feel like he didn't know Jenny at all.

"What caused her to strike after all this time? I know she'd use it against me in a heartbeat to get ahead, but to do that to you? She's more ruthless than I thought," Blair said. Dan tried to ignore the fact that Blair said the last part with more than a hint of admiration in her voice.

"I told her that I sent the blast about Asher. She told me that if her lies were exposed, she'd come after me," Dan said bitterly, shaking his head. "I'll give her credit; she's apparently a girl of her word."

"Far be it from me to defend your sister, but don't you think you probably deserved it after publicly humiliating her with that blast?"

"I was trying to protect her! She wouldn't listen to me when I tried to warn her about Asher," Dan protested defensively.

"And how exactly did you respond to her hints that she knew about me and you? Do you think it's possible she'd been feeling shut out and hurt because you wouldn't take the bait and talk to her?"

"It's possible," Dan conceded. There was a time when he and Jenny knew everything about each other's lives. He hated that growing up seemed to mean they were growing apart. "I guess sometimes it feels like our lives just catapulted forward too fast, and I'm still struggling to catch up."

"Because Jenny's slowly getting everything she ever wanted. You're slowly getting everything you _never_ wanted," Blair pointed out, smiling before she lightly nudged him his shoulder.

Dan stopped suddenly, and Blair stopped as well, giving him a puzzled look. Dan placed his hands on Blair's shoulders to make sure she was looking at him. "Just because I was dragged kicking and screaming into this world doesn't mean I don't see the good things that have come out of it."

"Like what?" Blair asked hesitantly.

"The connections I've made. Serena, Nate, Eric...I wouldn't trade those connections for the simpler life I used to have," Dan said seriously. He moved one hand to gently move a tendril of hair out of Blair's face. "As frustrating as it's been, I wouldn't go back and erase the time we spent together either."

"Of course not, you finally got to have sex," Blair deflected.

Dan sighed, feeling exasperated. "Stop doing that," he snapped, then took a breath to control his frustration. "I cherish those moments from before we had sex, those moments where you let your guard down and let me see the real you. I've been on the other side; I know perfectly well that very few people get to see Blair Waldorf be vulnerable or just relaxing with a classic movie. If I'd known that sleeping with you would mean you'd close yourself off to me, then I would take back that first night we had sex. I think we were eventually going to end up there anyhow, but we got lost in a moment and didn't know how to handle it afterwards."

"God, you really are a romantic," Blair said lightly, her voice breaking slightly on the word _romantic._ He could tell she was trying desperately to hide her emotions, whatever they were. "Just because we had sex...five times doesn't mean we were ever dating."

Surprisingly, he found that her denial only served to amuse him. "Yeah, just like talking to each other about our families or you teaching me to dance didn't mean we were friends," Dan said sarcastically, a grin spreading across his face. "I'm beginning to figure you out Blair Waldorf. The more you deflect or deny, the truer something is."

"You just let yourself believe that," Blair said huffily. "Anyhow, you've distracted us from our mission for too long. We need to get to the park and see if Serena's there."

"You really think she'd go to the park?" Dan asked skeptically.

Blair sighed. "Probably not. I just want to feel like I'm doing something, not just sitting around waiting for her."

"Yeah, that's better left to Chuck," Dan said. "I'm proud that you chose me as your company on this mission, especially considering if we got spotted together it will get everyone talking all over again."

"My reputation's ruined anyhow, so I figured I might as well go for broke," Blair said, a small smile crossing her face.

Dan chuckled. "Whatever you say, Waldorf. You just lead me to wherever you think Serena might be."

Dan followed Blair as they traveled all around Central Park. Dan could tell Blair wasn't especially hopeful, but he could understand her need to feel like she was doing something.

"What now?" Dan asked as they exited the park.

"I guess we head back and wait, or try and hit other bars," Blair said dejectedly. "I don't know-it's getting really late."

"Or early," Dan joked half-heartedly.

Before Blair could respond, her phone rang. "Nate?" she asked excitedly. Dan's ears perked up, and he stood by impatiently as Blair nodded as Nate spoke. "Thank God you were there. We'll see you in twenty minutes."

"Nate found her?" Dan asked, relieved.

"Yeah. She was at the Oak Room, really messed up. She was just about to leave with a group of sleazy guys when Nate got there, and he's bringing her to my place. "

"I'm glad she's okay," Dan said. He paused for a moment, not sure how to proceed now that the initial danger had passed. He took a deep breath, and spoke up hesitantly. "Do you, uh...think I should go home now? Will my presence just make things worse for Serena, especially considering she probably saw the blast when she was already upset?"

"You're practically her _brother_," Blair scoffed. Dan grimaced, as it still made him feel uncomfortable to think of Serena being his step-sister, even with all of them living together. It just made it so..._official_, not to mention weird. "We may need you to run parental interference still, and Serena trusts you. Whatever's bugging her this time seems big, and I don't want to a repeat of a year ago. We need all hands on deck."

"Okay," Dan said, still unsure. "But if Serena wants me gone, I'll leave. She was acting really weird when she met my friend Sarah earlier tonight. She kept saying I shouldn't trust her, but she wouldn't tell me why."

"You should have just believed her. Serena likes everyone at first sight. You should know that better than anyone," Blair said with a grin. "And who's this Sarah anyhow? I didn't see anything on Gossip Girl."

"She's just a girl I met in the park who's visiting from Oregon. We usually hang out in Brooklyn, so we're probably off the radar."

"So you're ashamed of her? What's wrong with her? Is she ugly? Is it because she's from Oregon?"

Dan chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with her. I don't know what was up with Serena. And, she's actually very cute. I just get nostalgic for Brooklyn sometimes, that's all. Sarah seems to get that."

"Oh, I'm sure she does," Blair said mockingly, rolling her eyes. "She probably just mistakenly thinks you're rich because you live in the Upper East Side. The girl doesn't understand that no matter how hard she tries, you're never going to be one to lavish her with gifts."

"Not everyone is after money," Dan said defensively. "If anything, Serena's money was a deterrent to me."

"I guess that's why you weren't willing to try and work things out between us," Blair said. "You just took the first available excuse and ran with it."

Dan rolled his eyes. "You're the one who said there never was a relationship to work out. I guess you decided that when you determined no lavish gifts were heading your way, even though you could easily afford those gifts yourself."

"I didn't mean it like that!" Blair protested, looking hurt. She stopped, and Dan realized they were in front of her building. "I know you think I'm incredibly shallow and materialistic, but I loved watching _White__Christmas_ with you. I probably could have done without your judgmental little message from _A__Handmaid__'__s__Tale_, but even then I appreciated on some level that you put some thought into the gift."

"Well, for what it's worth, I was only angry and hurt about Jenny because I really cared about you. If I didn't care, I would have just chalked it up to more of the same between you and Jenny. I'm not blind; I know my sister's not completely innocent in all this. It doesn't mean I want to be a pawn in your games with her."

"Well, for what it's worth, that situation just got a little out of control," Blair said softly, avoiding his eyes. "I texted you because I wanted to be with you. I had a vague plan in my mind that involved meeting with your father, but I honestly only was trying to gauge your whereabouts so you wouldn't see me there. In the moment, I really was just talking to you about your family. I never expected you to inadvertently give me such a great way to bring your sister down a peg or two."

Dan sighed. "I believe you, for some reason. I guess I just wish I'd meant enough to you to not use that information against my sister. You had to know how that would make me feel."

"Honestly, I got so wrapped up in trying to one-up Jenny that I didn't really think about it, outside of me thinking you wouldn't be there," Blair said with a sheepish smile. "I didn't say it then, and it might not mean anything now, but I really am sorry for hurting you."

Dan cupped her jaw lightly, causing her to look up at him. "Thank you. It does mean something. Exactly what it means, I think we're going to have to figure out later," he told her, holding her gaze for a moment longer. He really wanted to kiss her, but he fought the urge.

"Let's go upstairs," Blair said, returning them to reality.

When they entered the penthouse, Chuck was waiting for them in the living room. "Nathaniel kicked me out of the bathroom," he said grumpily.

"Is she okay?" Dan asked, concerned.

Chuck shrugged. "She's just upstairs puking. It looks like the Serena we know and love is back," he said nonchalantly. "Well, the Serena most of us know anyhow."

"Looks like you finally got your wish," Dan snapped.

"What the hell are you talking about, Humphrey?" Blair asked.

"Why don't you tell her, Chuck? You should tell her about the gifts, and how you've been on her case for her to be like she was before," Dan said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Chuck laughed. "Is that what she told you? That I was the one who sent her the gifts? Granted, I miss the old Serena, but apparently you and she aren't as close as you thought," Chuck said with a smug smile.

"What are you talking about, Bass?" Blair asked coldly. "What has Serena been telling you that she wouldn't tell Dan or me?"

"That Georgina Sparks is in town, and that she's been trying to lure Serena to the dark side," Chuck said triumphantly, clearly pleased with the look of horror that crossed Blair's face. Dan was more confused than ever.

"Who the hell is Georgina Sparks?" Dan asked.

Dan could swear he saw Blair shiver before answering. "She's an old friend of Serena's, from before she came back. She's completely psychotic. Even Chuck's afraid of her."

"With good reason," Chuck interjected. "She took my virginity in the sixth grade." Dan fought the urge to roll his eyes at that one.

"So basically, every time Serena told me something about Chuck, she was probably talking about Georgina," Dan surmised. "Why would she lie to me about that?"

"I don't know," Chuck admitted. "I figured out after the SATs that Georgina must have something on Serena, and whatever it is, it's so bad she was ashamed to tell me, let alone you or Blair."

"She knows she can tell me anything," Blair said sadly.

Dan looked toward the window and noticed the sun had come up. "It's morning already," Dan said absently. "I should go out and get us some coffee. I'm sure no one feels like going out and getting any, or food for that matter."

"One step ahead of you, Humphrey," Blair smirked, pointing towards the dining room. "I texted Chuck that he should get bagels and coffee for Serena, and pick some up for us."

The three of them sat in silence, regrouping over bagels and coffee. Finally, Dan spoke up again. "So, should we go see how Nate's doing?"

"I'm sure the last person she wants to see is you, Humphrey," Chuck sneered. "She won't tell me what's on her mind because she's ashamed. She knows you'll just judge her, not that you have any room to be doing that these days."

"Whatever, Chuck," Dan said dismissively, standing up.

"Dan, wait. Nate knows we're here by now, and he hasn't come down with her for a reason. I'll go up, given that it's my house."

Dan sighed. "Blair, come on. You know I just want to see if she's okay. You know, as her almost brother and all, not to mention ex-boyfriend."

"Yes, reminding her of that relationship will surely help her get through this," Blair said testily.

"Be sure to remind her of sleeping with her best friend," Chuck chimed in.

"What's going on? What's Dan doing here?" Serena said from the stairwell, looking confused.

"I was just telling him that you don't want him here," Chuck volunteered.

"Chuck," Nate warned, standing behind Serena.

"Let me grab you some food," Blair said, practically jumping out of her chair to make Serena a plate. Serena slowly walked down the stairs, looking haggard. Nate didn't look much better.

Slowly, they all converged around Serena.

"What's going on, Serena? Why would you tell me you got drunk with Chuck when it was really this Georgina Sparks person?" Dan asked, trying not to sound too accusatory.

Right away, Serena started to cry. Dan softened immediately. "Hey, I'm not mad. I'm just so worried about you. We all are. I just don't understand the lies, or why you freaked out at dinner."

"Serena, please just tell us what's going on," Blair pleaded. "You really scared me last night. I know you didn't actually _kill_someone."

"I can't tell you," Serena said, looking panicked.

"You can tell us anything. I know you think Dan won't look at you anymore, and I know how much his good opinion means, even as your almost brother. He didn't think you'd want him here, but I told him that you trust him. You do trust him, don't you?"

Dan felt touched that Blair would speak up for him like that. "Really, Blair, I can leave. If Serena feels more comfortable without me here, maybe I should just go home and tell Lily that Serena's migraines are acting up." Dan stood up, preparing to go.

"Dan, wait," Serena said. "It's not just you, I don't want to tell anyone about this."

"You're really beginning to worry even me," Chuck said.

"Serena, whatever you've done, I'm sure we've done worse," Blair said, desperation entering her voice. She pointed at Dan. "I used him for sex, then used his pillow talk against his sister as part of a power play."

Dan's jaw dropped as Chuck guffawed.

"Uh…I guess I, uh… let myself be used for sex, repeatedly, and lied to you about where I was going…." Dan stuttered out. "I also sent out a Gossip Girl blast that both humiliated my own sister and ended up outing your brother."

"I had sex with _you_ at a wedding when I was _her_ date," Nate volunteered, pointing at Blair. "Once," he added pointedly, shooting a glare at Dan and Blair.

Everyone turned to Chuck, waiting for his confession. _Drama__queen_, Dan thought to himself.

"I'm Chuck Bass," Chuck said simply, smirking. Dan rolled his eyes, wanting badly to punch the smirk right off his face.

"You can tell us anything. We don't judge. We're the non-judging _Breakfast__Club_…." Blair started, but was promptly interrupted.

"Seriously, Blair? Did you not pay attention during the movie?" Dan interjected. He had no idea why he felt the need to bring this up at this exact moment, but he somehow felt affronted that Blair apparently _still_didn't seem to get what _The__Breakfast__Club_ was about.

"Oh my God, Humphrey. Are you really doing this right now?" Blair snapped.

"Well, he's right," Nate volunteered. "We really bear no resemblance to _The__Breakfast__Club_. We're from the same social circle, and even the same social status for the most part. They weren't friends before, and I bet they didn't hang out after that detention."

"You watched it?" Dan asked, grinning. He felt strangely proud.

Nate shrugged. "You were right. It was a good movie," Nate said conversationally.

"It was just a metaphor, Humphrey," Blair said, exasperated. She turned her glare to Nate. "And you're not helping."

"A bad metaphor. I know you can do better than that," Dan grumbled.

"You're just hurt because you think I wasn't engaged during your precious John Hughes movies," Blair protested, rolling her eyes. "I just happened to have this idea of what _The__Breakfast__Club_ was in my head before I saw it, and it's my go-to example of a close group of teenagers. Do you have a better one?"

Embarrassingly, for all the classic teenage movies he'd seen, he couldn't come up with a single one which featured an incestuous social circle overflowing with interpersonal issues.

"Fine, you win," Dan conceded. "Just let it be noted that this is still a crappy metaphor if you've actually seen the movie. The whole point of the movie was that at the end, they learned not to judge each other. If anything, the non-judging _Breakfast__Club_ is redundant."

"_Fine_," Blair huffed.

"Wait, you guys had sex?" Serena asked, confused.

Everyone turned their attention to Serena all at once. In different circumstances, Dan would have found it comical. He and Blair had almost forgotten she was even there.

"You didn't see the blast?" Nate asked, surprised.

"There's a _blast_?"

"Complete with a picture of them basking in the afterglow," Chuck added.

"I'm so sorry, Serena," Dan said. "I was feeling sad because I was leaving the loft, and Blair was sad about Nate, and one thing led to another….We didn't plan it."

"It was just sex," Blair said. "Friends with benefits, until we weren't friends anymore after Jenny's party."

A look of realization crossed Serena's face. "I want to see the picture," Serena said. Dan and Blair shared a glance, then looked at Serena in surprise.

"Why would you want to see that?" Dan asked.

"You're kinkier than I thought," Chuck smarmed.

"You've said I can tell you anything because I know your secrets. So, I want to see this picture so I can see with my own eyes what's going on between you two," Serena said firmly.

Reluctantly, Nate picked up his phone and opened the blast. "I have no idea why I didn't delete this," Nate said, handing her the phone.

"You were probably too busy punching me," Dan offered.

"True," Nate agreed good-naturedly. Dan really couldn't believe how quickly Nate got over his anger. Maybe he really did hang out with too many girls.

Serena stared at the picture, her expression giving nothing away. They all sat in silence for a full minute before she handed the phone back to Nate. "Thank you," she said simply.

"And?" Blair prodded.

"And…I think I'm ready to talk," she said, glancing around the room. "To all of you," she added as she caught Dan's eye. Dan gave her a reassuring smile, trying to show how much her trust meant to him.

Serena then began her story, and none of the rest of them said very much. Dan sat in shock as Serena talked about her night of sex, drugs, and feeling like she was responsible for someone's death with this Georgina Sparks by her side.

"Now you see why I didn't want to tell anyone," Serena said afterwards.

"Now it all makes sense," Blair said. Dan wasn't so sure anything made much sense, other than the fact that Serena might finally feel freed from Georgina.

"What does Georgina even want from you?" Nate asked, looking confused.

"When she came back, I told her I wasn't in the lifestyle she was still in, but she didn't like that. So…." Serena paused, and looked panicked. "I don't know if I can say the rest in front of Dan."

"What can't you tell me, after all that?" Dan asked, baffled. "Why me specifically? Does it have something to do you and another guy? You know I can't hold that against you…."

Blair reached for Serena's hand. "You know at this stage, whatever you tell us will probably come back to Dan anyhow. Believe me, I've learned that nothing stays secret. Wouldn't you rather he hears it from you?"

Serena continued to hesitate, and Dan was feeling like he was back at square one. "Look, maybe I should go," he said. "I need to get home and shower and change and maybe try to sleep a few hours before I go help set up for my dad's show."

As Dan started to walk toward the door, Serena spoke again. "You didn't invite Sarah, did you?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I did," Dan said, feeling frustrated. "Are we really back on this?"

"Your friend Sarah is actually Georgina," Serena blurted out.

"_What_?" Dan asked, and distantly he heard Nate and Blair ask the same question simultaneously.

Dan sat back down, in shock. "Why didn't you just tell me this? You wouldn't have had to tell me everything, just that you had a psycho friend named Georgina who apparently decided to mess with me for unknown reasons. It's not like we're even dating anymore."

Serena looked down at the ground. "I told her that dating you and living with your family has been a big reason why I've been able to have this new lifestyle, and so I think she wanted to get to me through you. She knew how important you are to me," Serena admitted.

"God, Serena. I had no idea that I was that important to you. I'm sorry again about how things went down with Blair and me…" Dan started.

Serena held up a hand to stop him. "Our parents will probably be married by the end of summer. I know we're over. It doesn't mean that you're not still important to me, just like Blair is."

"Thank you," Dan said sincerely. "You mean a lot to me, too."

"Can we cut the melodramatic bullshit and discuss the real issue?" Chuck asked.

"Which is?" Dan asked irritably, not quite ready to be shaken from the moment with Serena.

"What we're going to do to this bitch," Chuck supplied.

"I hate to agree with Chuck, but he's right S," Blair said, a gleam in her eyes.

"Please, don't," Serena protested. "There's still a film out there, and if you go after her then she'll give it to my mom for sure, and all the progress we've made this year will go away. It's practically a snuff film."

"Serena, I'm not usually one for scheming or takedowns, but don't you think this Georgina needs to be dealt with?" Dan asked.

"You just go and tell her that you know who she is," Serena said. "That will take some of the wind out of her sails at least."

"Okay…" Dan said skeptically, not wanting to fight her too hard. It didn't seem the Georgina issue was taken care of by any means. "I really should go. I'll tell Lily that you're at Blair's."

"I'll walk you out," Blair said, standing up.

"Should someone chaperone them?" Chuck asked.

"It's been real, Bass," Dan said. "If anyone wants to hear some forgotten 90s music, you guys know where to go." With that, Dan waved at Nate and Serena and walked with Blair to the elevator.

"Make sure your phone is on and charged," Blair demanded in a low tone when they reached the elevator. "Once I have Serena distracted, you and I are going to work to take down Georgina."

"Blair," Dan sighed.

"We owe her this," Blair said. "Plus, Serena's not in her right mind. She doesn't realize that this isn't even close to over if Georgina's still out there."

Dan couldn't help but agree. "Okay," he said finally.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Blair said coyly. "I was prepared to bribe you."

Dan laughed in spite of himself. "And if bribes didn't work?"

"Blackmail, of course. Do you really want the world to know about your football sheets?"

"I guess it's good that I was so agreeable," Dan said, smiling despite the seriousness of the morning.

Just then the elevator doors opened, and Dan stepped in reluctantly. "Remember, stay by your phone," Blair reminded him as the doors shut.

Dan walked back home, feeling exhausted. The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll. Despite his fatigue and the shocking nature of what Serena revealed, Dan felt more at ease than he'd felt in a long time. It was a huge relief to finally have things in the open, and it looked like everything would be okay with Nate and Serena. Hell, he and Blair might even be able to work out at least some sort of serviceable friendship. Overall, it wasn't a bad day.

When he entered the penthouse, Jenny was sitting alone in the living room. "Dan," she said nervously. "Look…."

"jenny, I really am not in the mood right now," Dan said, unable to take on another session of clearing the air. He knew that things would be fine between him and his sister eventually, but that it would be a terrible time to discuss it right now. He walked straight into his room without another word, falling into a deep sleep almost immediately.

He was awakened from his nap by the ringing of his phone. Groggily, he looked at the clock and saw it was nearly 4 pm. "Hello," he said, his voice sounding hoarse.

"You were _sleeping_? Seriously?"

"Some of us actually find drama tiring and not invigorating," Dan said grumpily. "I told you earlier I needed to nap."

"I also told you I'd be calling you with an urgent mission. I expected you to be alert."

"Blair," Dan sighed. "Can you cut me some slack and just tell me what you need me to do?"

"I suppose I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this once," she conceded. "I need two things from you right away, then some follow up. First, you need to call Georgina and tell her that meet up with Lily before the concert. This should scare her away from the concert, as Lily would blow her cover immediately. Eric would too, so you may want to steer her away from the concert entirely. I would actually be willing to bet she'll stand you up anyhow. Second, you actually do need to go talk to Lily and tell her that Serena needs her. Serena's still a wreck, and I think it's too much."

"What else am I doing about Sar…Georgina?" Dan asked with some trepidation. It sounded too simple.

"Even though she'll probably stand you up, you need to babysit Georgina until I can come and execute my plan. Chuck and I have been talking while Serena's been sleeping, and I think I have a plan ready," Blair said. "And in case you were wondering, Nate's sleeping in a chair in my room as Serena sleeps. He's really worried about her."

"Are you okay with that?" Dan asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset her.

"I really am," Blair said, sounding surprised by her own admission. "Anyhow, can you handle Georgina?"

"Yeah," Dan said. "I'll probably just make a cameo at the concert then try and take her back to the loft. We haven't sold it yet, and I have a key."

"What? No one wanted to live in the loft?"

"Hey, that's my childhood home," he chided her. "I have a lot of special memories tied up in that place."

"I know," Blair said in an unreadable tone. "Good luck. I'll be in touch."

With a sigh, Dan hung up the phone. He supposed this was his first true UES scheme.

Dan walked out of his room to try and grab some more coffee, even if he had to heat it in the microwave. He was surprised to see his dad and Lily there already.

"You guys haven't left to set up yet?" Dan asked, confused.

"We're just about to, but we wanted to tell you kids something first," his dad and explained. "Let's go to the living room."

Dan followed them into the living room, where Eric had joined Jenny. "Where's Serena?" Lily asked.

"She's at Blair's," Dan explained. "Actually, I need to talk to you…."

"In a moment, Daniel," Lily said. "75% of the kids is probably all we could ever hope to get into one room at the same time anyhow, and we have something we want to tell you."

"Okay…" Dan said, really wanting them to spit it out so he could talk to Lily.

"We're getting married!" his dad said.

"We know," Jenny said, rolling her eyes.

"No, we're getting married next weekend. On the beach, in Puerto Rico," Lily told them. "You guys should start thinking about what to pack."

"That's…soon," Dan said.

"Yeah," Eric agreed.

"The sooner we make this family official, the better, don't you think?" his dad asked cheerfully.

"Can I bring a friend?" Jenny asked, beginning to perk up.

"Of course. You can each bring a friend."

"Well, congratulations, I guess," Dan said. "Lily, can I talk to you alone a minute?"

"Dan, if you have issues with the wedding, you can talk about it in front of all of us," his father said, looking hurt.

"It's not about that. It's about Serena, but I really would like to talk to Lily alone, if that's okay," Dan said.

"It's okay, Rufus," Lily said. "Let's go to the kitchen."

When he and Lily got to the kitchen, Dan found himself speechless. "I don't quite know what to say…" Dan started.

"I saw the tape, Daniel," Lily said. "It was disgusting, and I'm really disappointed that Serena's back to her old ways."

"No, Lily, it's not like that. That tape was old. All I know right now is that Serena is freaking out, and it's too much for us to handle. She needs you to be her mother right now," Dan said.

"Daniel…." Lily said warningly.

"Lily, with all due respect, I don't know much about your previous relationship, but Serena has intimated you weren't around a lot when she was growing up. I see you with this new family we have, and I know you're trying. Please, just go to the Waldorfs with an open mind and talk to her," Dan pleaded. "My dad will understand if you're late."

"Thank you, Daniel," Lily said, ruffling his hair. Dan tilted his head at her, and smiled. "We're not quite at the hair ruffling stage, are we?" Lily asked, returning his smile.

"Not quite," Dan answered, shaking his head.

When Dan returned to his room, he looked at his phone and saw that he had a message from "Sarah." Sure enough, she was canceling because supposedly she had a massive headache and being at a concert would only make it worse. Dan smiled to himself. He couldn't help but admire Blair's ability to read the situation.

Dan took a deep breath and picked up his phone. "Hey, Sarah. How are you feeling?" Dan asked after she answered.

"I think I did too many things in the sun today. That always gives me headaches," she said, legitimately sounding exhausted. He had to give her credit; she was an incredible actress.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was really disappointed to find out you wouldn't be at the concert. I really wanted to see you," Dan said, hoping he sounded convincing. He wished he'd brought Blair to give him signs of encouragement. He was surprised that she trusted him enough to pull this off on his own.

"Maybe some other time?" she asked, sounding hopefully.

"Would you be up for just hanging out tonight? I'm not sure I'm up for a night of listening to my dad play anyhow," Dan said. "Do you want to go over to Brooklyn, and we can hang at the loft? We can watch movies or something."

"That sounds great," Sarah said. Dan thought he detected a tiny note of triumph in her voice. "We'll have a lot of privacy there."

At that, Dan almost dropped the phone. For whatever reason, he hadn't really thought about what Georgina's endgame probably was. His guess was that it involved seducing him and throwing it in Serena's face. He had a feeling there was no love lost between Georgina and Blair, so it would be an added bonus to upset Blair as well.

Dan coughed, trying not to sound panicked. "It will be really quiet. Perfect for movie watching." Even Dan knew how lame that sounded. "Can you meet me there in an hour? I'll text you the address."

"I can't wait," Sarah said.

"Me neither," Dan said truthfully, as he couldn't wait for it to be over.

_Game__on.__We__'__re__meeting__at__the__loft__in__an__hour.__Please,__come__fast.__She__says__she__'__s__excited__about__the__ "__privacy,__"_ Dan texted Blair. He shivered at the potential implications, not sure how far he was willing to take this.

_Don__'__t__worry.__I__'__ll__make__sure__you__'__re__virtue__'__s__still__in__tact.__Relatively__speaking_, Blair texted back.

Dan groaned, and walked into the bathroom to start getting ready. He hoped he was up to the challenge, because Georgina Sparks had already caused more than enough trouble.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Notes: So, this is the last real chapter. It's been quite the ride, as I had no idea how much goes into writing an AU story like this. It was fun to work out the puzzle pieces and try and tweak canon but keep the spirit of the first season. I hope it worked for everyone. The epilogue is going to be the brunch mentioned in "A New Life." I'm leaning towards making that from Blair's POV to give her a voice in this AU, but I keep going back and forth. **_

_**Finally, thanks for reading! The reviews definitely helped keep me going, especially getting this last chapter out. I wanted it to be perfect, but then I realize...that's just not possible. So, here it is, warts and all. I like how my little opus ended up, and I hope you do too. Happy holidays! **_

Dan unlocked the door to the loft, grateful that he beat Sarah there. He couldn't bring himself to even mentally call her Georgina, afraid that the second he saw her as the conniving former friend of Serena that the jig would be up. As much as he loathed a lot of the games Blair played, he had to admit this Georgina girl deserved what was coming, whatever that may be.

Walking into the loft reminded him of visiting his old elementary school after he had started high school. It seemed so much smaller. It was familiar and homey, but it didn't level him with the nostalgia that he was expecting when he entered the door. It could be that without his family there, it lacked the life it once had. On some level Dan knew that he would always miss his family, even if his new family was growing on him. The loft was a symbol of that family, but at the end of the day it was just brick and mortar.

Wandering into his bedroom, he couldn't help but smile wistfully as he sat down on his old bed. It also seemed much smaller than it had at the time, now that he was growing accustomed to his much larger bed at the penthouse. He couldn't help but think of that first night with Blair, how the confined space of his bed had added to the intimacy of the night. He smiled fondly as he remembered her nestled into his side as they fell asleep. They barely spoke that night, and as trite as it sounded, he felt they hadn't really needed words. They had shared some sort of deep connection, and Dan still felt a pang in his chest when he thought about her. Feeling pathetic, he took out his cellphone and opened up the picture Jenny had taken. Even though it was a huge invasion of privacy, there was a part of him that was happy that the picture existed. While he had vivid memories of that night, seeing Blair contentedly asleep in his arms reminded him that it wasn't some dream he had. While the sex had certainly been good later on, he hadn't ever felt that same closeness as he had that first night. Staring at the photo, he felt the pang in his chest deepen to an ache.

A tentative knock on his door caused him to almost jump in shock. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. Ready or not, it was showtime.

As he reached the door, it slowly creaked open. "Hey, Dan," Sarah said shyly. "I didn't know if you were here or not. It was unlocked, so..."

"Sorry, I got caught up in nostalgia," Dan said truthfully. "There's not much food here. Did you want to order something in?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, I'm not very hungry. My head still hurts. Could we just sit down?" She did actually look really pale, but Dan had no idea what to believe.

"Of course. I'm going to go get you some water," Dan said, trying to buy himself some time away from her.

"You're so sweet," Sarah said, beaming. Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "I can't believe I met someone as nice as you in New York City. Everyone back home always told me people here would be really cold."

Dan tentatively patted her on the back a couple of time before extricating himself from her embrace. "Why don't you go relax on the couch and I'll get you that water."

Sarah did as told, and Dan went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water. He reached into his pocket to see if Blair had texted him, but his phone was missing. He thought he had put it back in his pocket when he answered the door, but he figured he must have left it on his bed. Realizing he didn't have any other stall tactics, he grabbed the glass of water and went back to the couch.

"Why is all the furniture still here?" Sarah asked.

"It's on the market, and the real estate agent said that our furniture gave the place a 'true hipster artist vibe,' whatever that means," Dan said, shrugging. He shot her what he hoped was a convincing version of his flirty grin.

"I can see that," Sarah agreed. "I'm sorry I didn't get to see your dad play tonight. I bet he's amazing."

Dan almost laughed. She was really laying it on thick, he had to give her that. However, he had to admit he probably would be contemplating whether it would be a good idea to make a move if he didn't know the truth about her identity. It had felt nice to have this cute girl pay attention to him and seemingly enjoy his company without all the complications that came along with Blair. Now that he knew his fun, simple relationship with Sarah was never going to happen, he realized how hollow it would have been anyhow.

"There's a rumor that they could get picked up to go on tour. Maybe you can go see them in Portland when you go back," Dan said conversationally. "When are you going back anyhow? It seems like a long trip. Don't you miss your family?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Sarah asked flirtatiously.

"Of course not," Dan said, smiling back. "I just know I would be homesick by now if it were me."

"Yeah, because you're from here," she said, looking wistful. "It's just so magical here! I can't imagine growing up here."

"I'm sure Portland is really beautiful," Dan said, not really knowing much about Portland. "I bet you miss the mountains and fresh air."

"Not as much as I'll miss the things here," she said sadly, looking meaningfully into his eyes.

Dan internally cringed, knowing that this was his cue to kiss her. He wasn't sure how far he was supposed to carry this charade, but he really hoped it wouldn't involve him making out with her.

"You know, I am hungry after all!" Dan said, practically bolting off the couch. "What do you think? Pizza? I bet your headache is still there because you haven't eaten enough."

He walked back into his bedroom to fetch his phone. Looking around, he didn't see it. Confused, he returned to the kitchen to pick up the house phone. Of course, there was no dial tone. He forgot his dad had turned the phone off since it wasn't needed to sell the loft. Sighing, Dan returned to the couch again.

"Have you seen my phone?" Dan asked, confused. He was getting suspicious, but he knew he couldn't make any accusations. He was really beginning to hope Blair got there soon.

"No, when's the last time you had it?" she asked, looking incredibly sincere.

"I had it right before you got here. I was in my room, but it's not there. It's also not in my pocket," Dan said, feeling increasingly convinced that she had nabbed it during their hug. For what purpose, he was afraid to find out. "Can I borrow yours to order the pizza?"

"I'm afraid mine's dead," she said regretfully. "Are you really that hungry? I bet I can take your mind off food."

"I don't think anything could take my mind off food right now," Dan said. "I had a long night last night with Serena, and I barely ate all day."

"Come sit down and tell me about it," she said, patting the couch.

Trying not to sigh, Dan plopped down next to her, keeping a respectable distance. She subtly moved over towards him, quietly scooting over.

"There's not much to tell, really," Dan said.

She scooted over another few inches until they were practically touching. She leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I think you could really use a distraction. Your friends are so dramatic, it must wear on you."

"You're right," Dan said, jumping back up from the couch. Rushing to the hall closet, Dan came back with the Scrabble set. He beamed proudly at her, amusing himself with his own intentional obtuseness. "I really could use a distraction. Nothing is better for that than Scrabble!"

Sarah gawked at him for a moment, likely wondering how he ever managed to date both Serena and Blair. She recovered quickly, and smiled sweetly at him as she stood up and grabbed the Scrabble set out of his hands.

"That wasn't really the kind of distraction I was thinking of," she said as she set the box on the coffee table. She then leaned forward and kissed him.

Dan pulled back quickly, trying to maintain his cool. Sarah looked back at him, her eyes showing hurt and confusion.

"Don't you want this too?" she asked. "I know things are confusing with Serena and Blair, but I thought you liked me..."

"I do," Dan said, trying hard to sound sincere. "It's not you at all..."

"You really need to get past Blair," she said, an edge creeping into her voice. It was clear this girl did not like Blair, so Dan decided to leave that subject alone. Instead, Dan just went with the first lie that popped into his head.

"It's not fair for me to be with any girl right now," he said. "I realized after that picture of Blair and me came out that I was the most worried about losing Nate...I think I'm in love with him."

He had no clue where that lie came from, but he figured he might as well just go with it.

"God, it feels good to finally tell someone that," Dan said, holding his face in his hands dramatically.

"Are you sure? Maybe you just need to be with a girl again..." Sarah said, pulling his hands from his face.

"No, I just need to face these feelings. I don't know what to tell Serena...I don't think she'd take it very well, especially as crazy as her life has been lately."

"She did always have a thing for Nate..." Sarah said, almost to herself. Dan was pretty sure that he hadn't mentioned anything about Serena's history with Nate to her, but he decided not to call her on her slip up. Surely Blair would be here soon enough. "Do you think Nate feels the same way?"

"I don't know," Dan said, not particularly wanting to continue down this line of conversation. "Forget I said anything. Let's watch a movie or something."

"Maybe we should go out to eat," she suggested.

"No!" Dan said quickly, knowing his one job was to keep her at the loft. "I just don't feel like being spotted right now, you know?"

"Sure," she said, giving him a questioning look. He had a feeling she was getting suspicious, but he figured she wouldn't call him out quite yet. Luckily, there was a knock on the door.

"No one knows I'm here..." Dan said. "I'll go get rid of them. Hopefully there's no random late night showing."

Dan opened the door, expecting to see Blair. He was surprised to find Serena there instead. He quickly stepped outside before Sarah could see who was there.

"Hey," she said timidly. "I'm sorry you got dragged into my drama. I came here to tell Georgina the jig is up."

"You deserve this moment," Dan agreed, reaching forward to squeeze her hand. They hadn't really spoken since she had found out about him and Blair, and he had no idea where they stood. "Are we going to be okay?"

Serena nodded, squeezing his hand in return before dropping it. "I can't say I wasn't hurt, but I see now that you really will always be there for me," Serena said quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I also could see in that picture that you guys have something there. I've known Blair my whole life, and I'm not sure I've ever seen her look that peaceful. I think you're good for her."

Dan chuckled. "That's nice of you to say, but I don't see things working out."

Serena shrugged. "Well, I just wanted to let you know I won't stand in your way. After all, you're going to be my brother by the end of next weekend."

"This is true," Dan said, shaking his head in disbelief. He took a deep breath, remembering why she was here. "You ready to get this show on the road?"

Serena nodded. "I think so," she said. After a beat, she spoke again. "Would you mind letting me handle this alone? Blair's downstairs, waiting for me to give her a signal to complete her plan."

"Yeah, of course," Dan said. "I'm really proud of you for facing all this head on. I think you're a lot stronger than you realize. Also, just know that the people who care about you can handle more than you may think."

Serena looked visibly touched, and Dan felt a warmth spread through him as she smiled. "Thank you, Dan. I really needed to hear that."

"Good luck," Dan said, quickly kissing her on the cheek before he went downstairs. When he exited the loft, he saw Blair standing on the street, trying to stay warm.

"You know, there is heat inside the building," Dan pointed out as he approached her.

"I know," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "I just think better outside."

"Okay," Dan said, looking at her questioningly. "What are you thinking about?"

"You," she said, looking him straight in the eyes. "Us."

"Is there an us?" Dan asked, not knowing the answer.

"Do you want there to be?" she asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," he admitted. "There's a part of me that just thinks we should really give it a go. There's also another part of me that thinks the prudent thing to do would be to be friends, as I think our social circles are only going to close in more once the wedding happens."

"Plus, now that it seems Nate nor Serena care, I'm sure the thrill will be gone," Blair said.

"I really didn't get off on the thrill of sneaking around. It just made me feel shitty," he said.

"Me too," Blair confessed, looking down at the ground.

"Look, I like having you in my life. I think the best way to make sure you stay there is for us to go back to being friends," Dan finally said, not at all certain this was the best course of action.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Blair said, looking him in the eyes again. She looked slightly wistful. Of course, this _would_ be the one time Blair agreed with him.

"So...friends," Dan said, holding out his hand for her to shake it.

Blair rolled her eyes, shaking his hand. "Friends," she agreed.

They stood in silence for a few moments, before Blair finally spoke again. "So...Serena invited me to be her guest at the wedding. Is that going to be weird for you?"

Dan shrugged. "Why would it be weird?" He knew he was being dense, but he was tired of her always playing her cards so close to the vest where they were concerned.

"Because of you and me...and Serena," Blair said.

"Well, I was actually thinking of asking Nate to be my guest, now that everything's in the open and he got a good shot in," Dan said, grinning slightly. "You know, just in case the weekend wouldn't be weird enough."

"It's not every day that your dad marries your ex-girlfriend's mother," Blair said.

"No, it's not," Dan agreed.

"Just imagine if you and Serena had actually slept together," Blair said with a teasing grin, nudging his side.

"We sort of did..." Dan offered.

"That didn't count," Blair said decisively.

"Not even halfway?" Dan grinned, nudging her in return.

"No, I take back the half-virgin jokes. It's all or nothing, and those five seconds with Serena were nothing."

"I see," Dan said conversationally. "And when did you come around to this line of thinking? After the half-virgin jokes got old?"

"No..." she started hesitantly, the teasing lilt gone from her voice. "I just like that your first time was with me; that no matter what happens that our first time will be a special memory for you."

"I don't know if you're fishing here, or you really don't know...But even if Serena and I had gone at it like rabbits for months, our first time would have been special to me," Dan said sincerely, somewhat taken aback by Blair's admission.

She turned towards him to look him in the eyes, her gaze not wavering from his. "As you know, Nate and I...Anyhow, I never really said it, but that night with you will always be special to me too."

If Dan was slightly off-balance before, he was completely blown away now. He had expected her to deflect again, carrying on their constant two steps forward, three steps back.

"Thank you," he finally said, smiling at her. "I think I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome," she said. "I just thought for us to be...friends, we needed to clear the air about the past."

Dan felt his heart sink, not realizing until then how much he'd been hoping she was doing an about face on their decision to be friends.

"Yeah, I'd hate for us not to be on the same page," he said, holding back a sigh. At that moment, her phone buzzed and all her focus was on the task at hand.

"Looks like it's showtime," she said, her eyes gleaming and a familiar smile crossing her face.

"I think I'll let you handle things from here," Dan said. "I think my virtue's been tested enough for one night."

"What happened in there, exactly?" Blair asked, looking both intrigued and slightly hurt at the same time.

"Well, Sar...Georgina tried to kiss me, and I immediately put a stop to it. She was understandably confused, so I told her I was, uh...secretly in love with Nate," Dan finally stammered out.

"So you weren't kidding about the wedding being awkward," Blair said, a teasing glint in her eye.

"It will be a weekend full of romantic intrigue, I'm sure," Dan said.

"I bet Nate and Serena will be going at it before the plane lands," Blair said flippantly.

"Aw, I didn't need to hear that," Dan said. "You never need that mental imagine of your almost-sister slash ex-girlfriend with one of your best friends."

"At least you didn't have to see a photo like Serena did," Blair offered.

"True," Dan agreed. "Said photographer will also be at the wedding."

"It will be one for the ages for sure, even with a guest list of fewer than ten guests," Blair volleyed back.

"Humphreys are efficient at creating awkward situations," Dan said. "It's a gift."

"It's good to know you have some skills," Blair said, shooting him a saucy grin.

"Don't you have a scheme to execute?" Dan asked, unable to contain his own grin.

"I do. I can't believe I let you distract me," Blair chided.

"I'll see you at the wedding. Try not to actually commit any crimes," Dan said, noticing a town car pull up out of the corner of his eye.

"No need for anything illegal," Blair said, her eyes lighting up when she spotted the car. "Looks like the last piece just showed up. Sure you don't want to stick around for this?"

"No," Dan said, shaking his head. "It looks like you have things under control. I don't have any real need for revenge...it's best to let Serena have the pleasure."

"Suit yourself," Blair shrugged, falling into pace with him as we he was leaving and she went to greet the passengers in the town car. "We're going to have to work on your ruthlessness if you want to survive in this new life of yours."

"Maybe I can just be the good influence on the rest of you," Dan said with a chuckle. "Besides, Serena and Nate don't strike me as being particularly ruthless."

"No, they're not," Blair sighed. "I really could use a good partner in crime."

"Well, if properly motivated, I'm sure I could lend a hand," Dan said.

"But right now you're _still_ distracting me," Blair said with a slight pout.

"Maybe you're not as ruthless as you thought if you can be distracted so easily," he suggested.

"Just go home. I will have my fun without you," she said, making a shooing motion.

"Okay, I can take a hint," Dan said, laughing as he finally left. "Have fun, but not too much fun."

When Dan stepped out of the van in front of the beach house, he couldn't help but stare in awe. While they had flown a private jet to go to Puerto Rico, with Lily insisting that with so many people it was actually cheaper than flying commercial, Dan was somehow unprepared for their destination. The house was gigantic, sitting right on the beach. He would normally have thought it was a small hotel, but apparently it was just for them.

"Sorry you kids will mostly have to share rooms," Lily said as she tipped their driver.

"I think it will be okay," Jenny said, her eyes as big as Dan's until she noticed Hazel, her guest, glaring at her. "Though it's too bad we couldn't find a bigger place on such short notice," Jenny corrected herself. Dan rolled his eyes, not even bothering to contain his disdain for Jenny's friend and his sister's accompanying attitude.

"I can't believe I just got out of a van," Hazel said. "Who knew limos were so hard to come by in Puerto Rico?"

"There were limos; this just seemed like a more authentic island experience," Dan's father said happily, carrying several bags while the driver assisted with the rest. Dan had his own bag over his shoulder, but he noticed everyone else had just left their luggage automatically.

"Rufus, the driver can take care of the bags," Lily sighed. "We're on vacation."

Eric walked up beside Dan and smiled at him. "Welcome to the good life," he said. "Believe it or not, Rufus negotiated Mom down to this house."

"It really is unfortunate that I have to share a room with Nate," Dan joked as Nate approached. "I'm impressed that you managed to be the only one of us with a room to himself, by the way."

"Yeah, how'd you manage that?" Nate asked. "Humphrey didn't tell me we'd be roomies when he invited me along. I might have declined the invitation if I'd known."

"It was simple: I just didn't invite a friend," Eric said. Dan instantly felt bad about his joke, knowing that Eric likely didn't invite anyone because he didn't have anyone to invite. Jenny was probably Eric's best friend, and she was going to be busy trying to impress Hazel.

"You really are the smartest one," Dan said, keeping his tone light. "I wish Jenny had gone the same route."

"Is Hazel not pleasant enough for you, Humphrey?" Blair asked, walking up to them with Serena. The five of them stood in a circle and looked at Jenny grinning and saying something animatedly to Hazel, who continued to sport a sneer.

"She's just a regular ray of sunshine," Dan said sarcastically.

"Aw, Jenny just wanted to pay her back for the Aspen trip," Serena said. "Be nice."

"Now that Nate and I are his friends, Humphrey needs to feel like someone is looking down at him," Blair said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I am completely imagining this," Dan said. "Watch."

Dan smiled wide as he caught Hazel's eye from across the house's courtyard and waved. Hazel flipped her hair and dragged Jenny toward their room in response. Jenny turned around and gave Dan and apologetic shrug as she was being dragged away. Dan shook his head in return.

"See?" Dan said, pointing towards Hazel.

"Point taken," Blair conceded. "Since she willingly came with Jenny, I think it's actually personal and not about your status, if it's any solace. It's probably your clothes."

"So, that photo of the two of you really wasn't photoshopped?" Nate asked, smirking.

"If you didn't notice, he wasn't wearing any clothes there," Blair pointed out, returning his smirk.

"Blair!" Serena scolded. Dan felt himself redden.

"Why did we bring guests? What were we thinking?" Dan asked, shaking his head in mock bewilderment.

"I really am the smartest," Eric said, grinning. "However, given this awkward turn of the conversation, I'll leave the four of you alone."

They all stared at each other for a moment, then laughed.

"Well, with that, I guess we should go get ready," Dan said. "I need to go check in on my dad after I get dressed."

"Same with me and my mom," Serena said. "Will the two of you be able to amuse yourselves?"

"I suppose," Blair sighed.

"So...the next time we talk we'll be family," Dan said to Serena, it sounding less strange by the moment.

"I suppose we will," Serena said, smiling wide before linking her arm through Blair's. "I really hope this one lasts."

"Me too," Dan said, returning her smile.

After changing into a white suit that Lily had kindly stopped by his room to give him, Dan went to go see his dad who was getting ready in Eric's room, while Eric and Serena were with Lily in the guesthouse. On his way through the courtyard, he ran into Jenny.

"Where's Hazel?" Dan asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"She's on her phone, likely complaining about our lackluster accommodations," Jenny said, sighing. "We lost her with the van."

"So, opulent private beach houses just aren't good enough anymore?"

"Dan, can you cut it out so we can go watch our father get married?' Jenny asked pleadingly.

Dan softened and nodded his head. "Yeah, I suppose I could do that," he agreed.

"Good," Jenny said. "I'll refrain from commenting on your date."

"Nate?" Dan asked, laughing. "What's there to say? That his man bangs are holding up surprisingly well in the humidity?"

"Right, I was totally talking about Nate," Jenny said, rolling her eyes.

"Serena brought Blair," Dan protested.

"I bet you twenty bucks that those sleeping arrangements change," Jenny said, her nose scrunching up at the end of the sentence. "Though the thought really grosses me out."

"Then don't think about it," Dan offered. "Like, I am glad Dan and Lily are in a whole separate guesthouse, for instance. Out of sight, out of mind. Especially on their wedding night."

"Gross! Now I have two things to try and block out tonight," she pouted.

Dan laughed. "Honestly, you don't have to worry about me and Blair," Dan assured her.

"Whatever," Jenny said. She paused for a moment, and stopped walking. Dan stopped as well, waiting for her to continue.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I posted that picture on Gossip Girl," Jenny said. "You totally shouldn't have sent that blast, but at least you were trying to protect me, even if I didn't need it. I was just getting revenge."

"Why did you even take the picture in the first place?" Dan asked, still worried about some of his sister's instincts. "I can sort of understand sending the picture when you were pissed at me, but you weren't mad at me when you took it."

"I was mad at Blair," Jenny said. "She was really mean to me that day, and when I saw her with you I knew it would humiliate her if that got out, no offense."

"None taken," Dan said, chuckling slightly.

"If it helps, I thought better of sending it because I also knew it would mess you up with Nate and Serena," Jenny explained. "Then you had to go and piss me off."

"Jen, I know sometimes I go too far, but I won't ever stop trying to protect you," Dan said. "I hope I don't have to worry about my life getting blown up if I step over the line. I love you, and I'll always be your big brother."

"But I'm not a kid anymore," Jenny pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Dan said lightly. "You could be 30 years old and a famous fashion designer and I would probably still go after any guy I thought was hurting you."

"You're a good brother," she told him, her eyes getting misty.

"And you're about to get another one," Dan said. "Don't forget me amongst the shiny new siblings."

"I have always wanted a sister," Jenny said with mock wistfulness. "Finally, my wish has been granted. Of course, you were a lot like a sister sometimes anyhow. How many brothers would watch Molly Ringwald movies with you?"

"Hey, you know you should be nicer to me. I might decide I like Eric or Serena better," Dan chided.

"Like I could lose you that easily," Jenny teased, then her smile dropped.

"What?" Dan asked, concerned.

"Our family...it's never going to be the same, is it?"

"No," Dan said. "But that doesn't mean it's bad."

"I know. I still miss it though, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Dan said, pulling his sister in for a hug. "Me too."

She pulled away from his embrace slowly, wiping her eyes.

"I guess it's probably time to go check on Dad," she said, sniffling slightly.

"Let the van der Humphrey era begin," Dan said, putting an arm around his sister's shoulder.

On the beach, Dan stood with the other guests as his father waited for Lily to arrive. Eric and Jenny stood next to each other, light-heartedly whispering while Hazel texted off to the side. Dan stood beside Nate and Blair in comfortable silence. Serena was responsible for escorting Lily to the beach. When his father's face lit up like a Christmas tree, Dan knew that Lily was on her way.

Serena lightly rubbed his back as she walked by him to stand on the other side of Nate. As Dan watched Lily and his father beam at each other, he couldn't help but feel a momentary pang of sadness. Like Jenny had said, the Humphreys as they knew them were over as a family unit. While he was happy for his father, it began to fully sink in that their would be no more Humphrey Thanksgivings or Christmases. He'd be lucky if he ever saw his parents in the same room again, especially considering his mother's disdain for Lily.

Dan could feel Blair move closer to him, and he was surprised when he felt her quietly reach for his hand and squeeze it. She let go quickly, but moved in even closer and tentatively leaned into him. Without hesitating, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, holding her as his dad recited his vows. He knew that she understood his mixed feelings in that moment, and he was grateful that she was there.

"Thank you," he whispered softly into her ear.

"I'm just cold," she whispered back with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Of course," he whispered back, pulling her even closer. He caught his sister's eye, who just smirked and rolled her eyes.

The rest of the ceremony was a blur, and the next thing he knew they were all gathered around a huge table in the center of the house's courtyard. He wasn't precisely sure who had set up the table, the decorations or the humongous spread, but he was learning not to question these things.

His father and Lily stood up, both happily holding their champagne glasses. "We have an announcement," his father chirped happily.

"Oh my God, you're pregnant," Jenny said to Lily, her jaw dropping. Dan's eyes practically bugged out of his head, shifting between the his dad and Lily. Historically, every time either of them said they had an announcement, a big bomb dropped. A baby would certainly take the cake.

"Don't be ridiculous," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "She's too old for that."

"I'm not pregnant," Lily said. "But thank you for that, Blair."

Blair smiled sheepishly. Serena caught Dan's eye and swiped her hand across her forehead mockingly to show her relief.

"We're getting used to this strange new dynamic, but I'm not sure I could take Serena and I sharing a sibling yet," Dan said, and everyone chuckled.

"Yes, well..." Lily said, looking surprisingly flustered. "Anyhow, that was not our announcement."

"After the concert, I got a call inviting Lincoln Hawk to go on tour this summer," his father said excitedly. "And Lily is coming with me."

"You're reliving your groupie days, Mom?" Eric asked teasingly.

"So, uh...what happens to us?" Dan asked.

"Mother has invited all of you to summer in the Hamptons," Lily said.

"And of course you and Jenny will spend some time in Hudson," his dad interjected.

"I've never 'summered' anywhere before," Dan said to Nate under his breath.

Nate chuckled. "You pretty much just lay around and do nothing," Nate said.

"Awesome," Dan said. "Am I allowed to write?"

Nate looked thoughtful. "That sounds pretty productive for summering."

"Who knew 'summer' was a verb?"

"So much to learn as your rags to riches tale continues," Blair said teasingly, joining their conversation.

"Just thank God she's not pregnant," Serena said.

"I know, right?" Dan said.

"Hey, man, it looks like the festivities are breaking up. Do you want to walk along the beach for a bit?" Nate asked.

Blair rolled her eyes. "When he says that, he's really asking if you want to go smoke weed."

"I did invite him along, so the least I can do is indulge in his favorite past times," Dan said.

"You boys have fun," Serena said. "Blair and I are going to nab a bottle of champagne and lounge in the hammocks if you want to join us."

"Maybe later," Nate said distractedly. "Let's go change..."

After he and Nate had changed into shorts and t-shirts, they indeed went and walked the beach, no weed in sight.

"So, when you said you wanted to take a walk...you actually wanted to take a walk," Dan said, amused.

"I don't always smoke weed," Nate said defensively.

"I never said you did," Dan said, confused by Nate's shift in mood. "Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah, sorry," Nate said, running a hand through his bangs. "This is just weird."

"Well, you're weird at least," Dan agreed. "You're the one who knows what 'this' is."

"Just so you know, I'm not asking your permission or anything, but I wanted to let you know that I think something's happening between Serena and me," Nate said. He paused, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "And, well, I was hoping to make my move tonight. In our room."

"Ah, I can see how that would be considered weird," Dan said lightly. "So, when you say make your move...what are your intentions exactly? Because as her newly minted brother, I would have to kick your ass if you just wanted to hook up and she wanted more."

"Duly noted," Nate said with a chuckle, his shoulders relaxing visibly. "It's definitely not just a hookup. If it makes you feel better, it would be much more likely that she'd be the one to break my heart."

"Do you need me to kick her ass? She may be my sister, but you're my friend."

"I think you can hold the ass-kickings for now," Nate said, smiling.

"If only Chuck were here," Dan said wistfully.

"Do you have some tension you need to relieve, Humphrey?" Nate teased. "You could see being displaced from your room as an opportunity to make your own move."

"Why does everyone think Blair and I are going to hook up? That's over," Dan protested.

"It sure didn't look over at the wedding," Nate pointed out.

"She was cold," Dan said, knowing he sounded lame.

"She was holding a cardigan."

"Come on, man. You know as well as anyone that Blair and I would never work as an actual couple," Dan said, not sure who he was trying to convince.

"I'll admit I was pretty stunned when I saw the picture," Nate said, then shrugged. "But I don't know, once I wasn't pissed anymore, it started to make sense. You're kind of alike, in a weird way."

"Should I be insulted?" Dan asked.

Nate laughed. "I did hear about your little story you told Georgina. I guess your attraction to me is something else you and Blair have in common."

"Ugh, I really wish I were better at lying," Dan said, shaking his head. He paused, growing more serious. "But honestly, we're cool as far as Blair goes?"

"Yeah, we're good," Nate said. "I did just tell you I want to make a move on your ex, so it's not like I have room to talk. Selfishly, it's kind of a relief that Blair ended up finding someone like you. I felt bad about how things went down between us at the end, and she deserves someone who will treat her well."

"It's really not like that..." Dan said, sighing.

"Whatever you say," Nate said. "If you could just keep Blair occupied tonight so I can be with Serena, then you two can just sit and play Scrabble if you want."

"As her step-brother slash ex-boyfriend, Scrabble playing is what you're planning to do with Serena, right?" Dan asked, grinning.

"Of course," Nate said. "Just make yourself scarce, Humphrey. If Blair kicks you out, that living room couch looked comfy enough. And even as Blair's ex-boyfriend, I sincerely hope you and she don't play any Scrabble tonight."

Nate and Dan found the girls on a large patio outside their room, each of them lounging comfortably in a hammock.

"We come bearing gifts," Dan said, holding up the champagne bottle in hand and Nate holding up another. Dan chalked up the abundance of champagne as something else he wasn't going to question.

"Our heroes," Serena said, grinning.

"You guys get through your bottle?" Dan asked.

"Not all of us are a lightweight like you," Blair said mockingly, but without any real bite behind it.

"I just wanted to know if I should pop open a new bottle to propose a toast," Dan said. "And I will take your retort as a yes."

With that, Dan awkwardly fumbled with popping the cork, realizing he hadn't actually opened a bottle of champagne before. He finally got it open with a satisfying pop, and luckily the cork fell harmlessly to the floor without maiming anyone.

Setting the bottle down after pouring, he raised his glass, "I bet you're expecting a lot of words from me, but I just want to keep it simple. To friends..." he tilted his glass towards Serena. "And family."

"I second that," Serena said.

"So, Serena...there's something I wanted to show you in our room. Do you have a minute?" Nate asked.

"Uh, sure," Serena said. "You guys will be okay alone for awhile?" Serena asked Dan and Blair questioningly.

"We'll be fine," Dan reassured them.

"I bet that 'thing' is pretty amazing. Why don't I get to see it?" Blair asked, smirking at Nate.

"You wouldn't appreciate it," Dan said.

"Probably not," Blair agreed, settling back into her hammock.

"I bet Dan has some things you might appreciate more," Nate suggested.

"Based on my past experiences, you're probably right," Blair said, giving Dan a knowing smile.

"Hey, low blow," Nate pouted.

"You started it," Blair whined.

"Serena, I think it's time we separated these two," Dan teased.

"I think so," Serena said, smiling. "Let's go, Natie. I can't wait to see whatever it is that's in your room."

With that, Nate and Serena left arm in arm.

"Well, they are just too cute, aren't they?" Blair said, rolling her eyes.

"Before you say another word, Nate kicked me out of our room so he and Serena can play Scrabble. That's my story and I'm sticking to it," Dan said, smiling down at her as he stood over her as she continued to relax in her hammock.

She sat up slightly and patted the space next to her. "Come join me," she said, giving him an inviting smile.

"Do friends cuddle in hammocks?" Dan asked, tilting his head.

"They can on vacation," Blair said.

Like usual, he was unable to turn down the opportunity to get closer to her. He climbed into the hammock, and she quickly situated herself so that her body was nestled against his side, her head tucked under his chin. They simply laid in the hammock in silence for several moments, until Blair spoke up softly.

"So...if your dad and Lily hadn't gotten together, what do you think would have happened between you and Serena?"

Dan thought carefully, sensing that his answer was important to her.

"I can't say for sure what would have happened. I cared a lot about Serena, and it's hard to say where things would have gone if we'd become more serious,' he started, and he could feel her tense up. "But I don't think that's really what you're asking me."

"You don't? Please enlighten me."

"I think you want to know if I was just with you because I couldn't have Serena," Dan said, taking a risk. He was pretty sure he was reading her right, but he knew her Serena insecurities ran deep and he didn't want her to pull away.

"And were you?" she asked quietly.

"I think things happened just as they were supposed to," he said. "If Serena and I hadn't started dating, our parents may have never reconnected. As much as I am nostalgic for my family and love my mother, I know my dad is where he should be."

"You didn't answer my question," Blair said.

"My point is, I think things happened how they were supposed to. If I had become fixated on the brunette who gave me the withering glare at Thanksgiving instead of the drunk blonde who had spoken to me once at a party, nothing would have worked out the way it did," Dan explained. He could tell she was still confused, so he started again. "To be clear, I think you and I were supposed to connect, but we needed to have the right timing and circumstances."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously, shifting more of her body towards him. He responded by pulling her closer.

"Think about it: you would never have given Dan Humphrey, Lonely Boy from Brooklyn, the time of day if it hadn't been for Serena. Frankly, I probably would have run for the hills as soon as I spotted the trail of minions behind you if I hadn't started to see more sides to you," he told her in a quiet, intimate voice. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "While I might have met and even dated Serena first, that doesn't mean you're my second choice."

"Then what does that make me?" she asked, angling her body so she was looking him in the eyes.

"I think...you may be the right choice," he said, his heart beginning to beat quickly, not sure if he'd overplayed his hand. "If you want to be, of course. I don't discount the notion that you might not be an option for me at all."

She continued to look at him seriously, which only served to make him nervous. "Blair?" he asked anxiously.

"I think you might be my right choice too," she finally said.

He felt a smile slowly spread across his face, until he knew he was beaming at her. She laughed nervously, but smiled back.

"So...we're really going to try and do this thing?" Dan asked, making sure they were on the same page.

"It looks like it, if you could ever make a move," she teased. Without hesitating, he leaned forward and captured her mouth with his. She responded readily, cupping his face as she moved her body flush with his.

Briefly pulling away, she leaned towards his ear. "You ever do it in a hammock?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know the answer to that question will always be 'no' unless you were there too," Dan said, laughing.

"So, there was no one after me?"

"Nope. For some reason I seemed to only want to be with you," he said honestly.

"Good answer," she said, leaning in to kiss him again, one hand stroking his chest under his shirt. He involuntarily thrust his hips up, causing the hammock to sway more than he would like.

"As much as I would like to join whatever club one enters by having sex in a hammock, I think I would rather focus on you than whether or not I'm going to face plant into the tile," Dan said. "Plus, I'd just as soon not risk Hazel and Jenny coming by and providing us with an audience."

"Knowing your sister, she'd probably take another picture," Blair grumbled.

"All the more reason to move inside," Dan said, wanting to get the topic far away from Jenny for many reasons.

Dan stood up, extending his hand to help her up. As she stood, he took the opportunity to pull her tightly into his arms.

"No matter how wrong this seemed in my head sometimes, this has always _felt_ right," he told her, stroking her hair as he wondered what had gotten into him with all these proclamations. Historically, it had not ended well for him when he put his heart on his sleeve with her. However, tonight just felt different for some reason.

"I've never felt as close to anyone as I did that first night," she admitted softly.

He pulled back slightly so he could cup her jaw and see her face. "Me neither" he said, kissing her softly. "It was kind of terrifying, wasn't it?"

"And confusing," she added, leaning up to kiss him quickly in return. "Are you still scared?"

"Yeah," he admitted, noting the disappointment in her eyes. "But I think it's supposed to be this way. If I wasn't scared, it would mean there wasn't anything at stake. Are you still confused?"

"No," she said, a hint of surprise in her voice. "You?"

"Nope," he said, smiling down at her before he kissed her, this kiss quickly turning passionate. They stumbled inside, leaving a trail of clothes behind them as soon as they got through the door.

"God, I missed this," she groaned as they crashed onto the mattress.

"I don't think we've ever been on the same page like this before," Dan said breathlessly in between kisses to her neck. "It's better than before."

"Could you ever just agree with me?" she asked in mock exasperation before he cut her off with another kiss.

"Say something that's right and I will," he teased, his mouth teasing her collarbone as he reached behind her to unhook her bra.

"This feels amazing," she sighed as his mouth covered her breast.

"You see, that's something I can agree with," he said, lifting his head from her breast to grin at her. She swatted his head affectionately before pulling his head up for another passionate kiss.

"I'm really happy right now," he said after they broke apart.

"Me too," she said simply, smiling at him before kissing him again.

Afterwards, they laid in bed, her body curled into his side peacefully just like the first night they were together.

"This is real, right?" he asked, stroking her back.

"Yeah," she said, kissing his chest softly.

He had one troubling thought running around his head, and he couldn't help but voice it. "Um...so what happens this summer?"

She sighed. "You sure know how to ruin a moment, Humphrey."

"I know, but we don't have a lot of time to talk about the fact that we won't be in the same city for most of the summer," he said. "I don't want to avoid the issue and somehow end up back in the bad place."

"You should come to France," she said, and he could feel her body tense as she awaited his response.

"I have that internship with Jeremiah Harris," he said. "Otherwise, I'd love to. It sounds better than splitting time between the city, the Hamptons and Hudson."

"When does it start?"

"In three weeks."

"I leave in a week," she said.

"Oh," he said sadly.

"No, that's good," she said, lightly slapping his chest.

"Okay..."

"You should come to France for ten days or so before your internship starts," she said, smiling at him. "Daddy and Roman have tons of space, and you could certainly use some culture."

He chuckled. "I'm sure I could. It might give me some inspiration for my writing..."

"I think your current living situation should suffice, though maybe it's best if you don't write exclusively about the people you know."

"You're very wise," he teased, leaning down to kiss her.

"So..."

He laughed, realizing he hadn't given her an answer.

"Sure, why not?" he said, smiling at her.

"It will be like our version of your dad and Lily's dirty tour bus sex honeymoon," Blair said.

"Could you please not discuss my dad's sex life while we're in bed? Or you know, ever?"

"Such a prude," she said, smiling as she painted his chest with kisses.

"That sounds like a challenge," he said.

"I intended it as such," she said.

"Challenge accepted," he said, then surprised her by flipping them over so she was on her back looking up at him. She pulled his head down for another kiss, and his last coherent thought was that he hadn't realized before that sex could be so _fun_.

A week later, Dan found himself frantically scrambling around the penthouse.

"God, of all things, I can't find my _passport_," he grumbled.

"Calm down," Serena laughed. "Blair will wait."

Dan shot her a pointed look.

"She'll wait for a few more minutes at least," Serena conceded. "But we do need to find the passport soon."

"Do you know where you last had it?" Eric asked sarcastically.

"Very funny," he said tersely.

"Did you check that thing around your neck?" Jenny asked, rolling her eyes at him.

Sure enough, his passport was safely entrenched in his neck pouch.

"You're such a dork for carrying that," Jenny told him.

"_Lonely Planet_ France suggested it," he protested.

"No one who writes for_ Lonely Planet_ travels like Blair Waldorf," Jenny pointed out. She stuck her hand out. "Hand me the neck pouch."

Dan sighed and took the pouch off, sliding his passport into his pocket.

"You can have Blair thank me later," Jenny said, smirking at him.

"I'll have her buy you something much nicer than I can afford," Dan said.

"Yes, I'm sure your expense account is bone dry," Jenny said.

"I'm sure gonna miss you," Dan said, ruffling her hair.

"You really had better go," Serena said warningly.

"We were supposed to go to Martha's Vineyard with the Waldorfs when Blair was 12, and she told her mom we cancelled when we were ten minutes late," Eric said.

"Nice," Dan said. "See you guys in ten days."

Dan waved at his siblings, both old and new, and breathed out a sigh of relief when the elevator arrived immediately. He practically sprinted to the waiting limo, leaning in to kiss Blair before she could lecture him.

"You owe me a lot more than that for being...eight minutes late," Blair said. "I was beginning to think you were having second thoughts."

"Of course not," Dan said, slightly horrified that she would even think that. "I would never just ditch you like that."

"I'm sorry, this whole trip is making me nervous," she said apologetically.

"It was your idea," he reminded her. "Are you changing your mind? I know this relationship messes with your whole world order."

"No," she said decisively. "I want this."

"Good," he said. "By the way, thanks for inviting me."

"Thanks for coming," she said, reaching for his hand.

"I'd be crazy to miss it," he said sincerely, leaning forward to kiss her lightly before settling back in his seat, content to sit in silence with her as they rode to the airport.


End file.
